


The Realm of Possibilities

by gaypanic



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Canon Divergent, Dark One!Regina, F/F, Fix-It, Happy Ending, Soulmate AU, dark swan queen? totally went there too, did i really fix it? idk but i sure did try, every character has alternates, major hook bashing? heck yes, s5 fix-it, soulmates? of course, there is some death but nothing you'll be mad at me for in the end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-30
Updated: 2019-09-30
Packaged: 2020-10-06 01:10:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 49,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20498420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gaypanic/pseuds/gaypanic
Summary: In Neverland, Emma discovers that Regina is her true love.But nothing is ever so simple.Regina and Hook learn the truth in Neverland, that Emma could end up with either one of them, depending upon one of two possibilities:Possibility #1: Emma saves Regina from the darkness, becomes the dark one, but, according to fate, she will be destined to transform into a shell of herself, the woman Killian would be compatible with.Possibility #2: Emma stands by and does nothing, lets the darkness consume Regina, but, according to fate, she will be destined to become the woman Regina would be compatible with.When the night comes and Emma is presented with the decision that will alter her fate, she makes the right choice, even if it hurts to watch the woman she loves be taken over by the darkness. Saving her should be no problem, but navigating through the Realm of Possibilities presents more challenges than anyone is prepared for.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [alwaysthevillain](https://archiveofourown.org/users/alwaysthevillain/gifts).

> Two years ago, I finished my first supernova and swan queen fic. On the day of my reveal (for libib!!!), I was on an all time high. nothing could have pulled me away from swan queen on that day. I found [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4RyFqTJtBA) and was immediately !!!!! over the juxtaposition between the emma we knew and loved for four seasons, and the confusing remains of emma we were left with after she became the dark one. This is where this idea was born. I wanted nothing more than to explore the concept of how swan queen is the ultimate antithesis of that emma. The idea of possibilities and “what ifs” is something I constantly think about, which is why I could never let this idea go, and why i’ve been working on this fic on and off for so long. it’s definitely been an experience. I hope you guys love it as much as I do. 
> 
> Major thank yous to my support: the tiny authors, the shame corner, my moms laura and kals, and everyone who has ever read one of my fics. And the biggest of thank yous to alex for making [this dope art](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20499536?view_adult=true) for my fic! it’s everything i never knew i wanted it to be! i’m so amazed how well you captured the essence of this fic in such a breathtaking piece.

_ Emma always thought soulmates were completely stupid. She was stubborn enough not to change her mind about it, but once she was standing in the middle of Neverland between Captain  _ Fucking _ Hook and the ex-boyfriend that left her pregnant in jail, looking for the son that was biologically theirs but was actually the son of her and another woman, with her favorite childhood Disney character standing in front of them holding a handful of pixie dust, Emma couldn’t say she didn’t try. _

_ “Sure, why not?” _

_ Tinkerbell grinned suspiciously wide before blowing the fairy dust right in Emma’s face. The blonde coughed once and swatted at the air in front of her, more concerned about the state of her lungs than the lack of light leading from her to either of the men beside her. _

_ “Oh come on!” Hook all but growled. Emma let out a breath that was equal parts disgust and relief. “At least it’s not you,” the pirate sneered in Neal’s direction. _

_ “You fucked my mom,” Neal muttered. “The least you could do is not talk to me. Ever again.” _

_ “Well, I--” _

_ Killian stopped talking when a string of twinkling lights appeared, floating through the trees, moving when Emma does. “Um,” she started, clearing her throat before turning to the fairy, “can  _ everyone _ see that?” _

_ “Only those who were here when we cast it. So, your soulmate won’t know.” _

_ “Okaay,” Emma started, unsure, “so if the lights are here right now, that means…” _

_ “Your soulmate is on the island!” _

_ Everyone turned to stare at her. Killian was the first to express his concerns, “The only other males here are underage boys. And her father.” _

_ “And  _ my _ father,” Neal offered. _

_ Really, it was a revolting thought, but Emma could hardly process their words past her own thoughts. She knew where the lights were going to lead her, but she didn’t want to believe it.  _

_ “I bet it’s Regina,” Neal shrugged, and that was the moment Emma decided to disappear and seek confirmation. She was relieved to be gone when she heard Hook’s homophobic response and Neal’s defense, but the path of lights and the voices that grew louder with every step didn’t provide the same relief. _

_ Regina’s scoff echoed through the trees, and Emma grimaced on behalf of her mother, who was no doubt on the receiving end. David’s voice was soft in response, but too quiet to pick out any words. By the time Emma was in the clearing watching the scene play out, she was too distracted by the way Regina started full-on glowing the minute Emma laid eyes on her. _

_ Regina was her soulmate, apparently. _

_ “Are you really that stupid? I know none of the  _ Charmings _ have brains, but you’re a Charming by  _ marriage _ , Mary Margaret. No wonder there’s no hope for Emma, having both of you dimwits for parents. If my son has any of your--” Emma stepped on a twig that snapped under her boot then, interrupting the conversation. “Oh,” Regina said, “I didn’t see you there.” She didn’t apologize, but it wasn’t like Emma expected her to. _

_ “I, uh--” Emma started to respond, but all the words died on her tongue. Regina was glowing even brighter, and Emma couldn’t look away. _

_ Her soulmate scoffed again, turning back to the Charmings, “See, look what you’ve done.” She shook her head and went about whatever she’d been doing, trying to light a fire or something even though in Emma’s eyes, she was already lighting up the whole clearing. It was another long moment before Regina looked back up at her. “What?” she snapped. _

_ It was going to be a long trip. _

_ It took Regina hours to stop glowing, and even after she did, Emma kept on staring, trying to process exactly  _ how _ this woman could possibly be her soulmate.  _

_ The pixie dust was clearly wrong. _

_ “Pixie dust is never wrong,” Tink whispered to her one day when she caught her still staring at Regina.  _

_ So much for that theory. _

_ To make matters worse, about halfway through the trip, Regina started acting even more rude than normal, and it was pissing Emma off. “Your  _ boyfriend _ came up with another ‘brilliant’ plan,” she sneered, rolling her eyes  _ and _ doing air quotes.  _ A mood honestly _ , Emma thought, but she was too hung up on the fact that Regina kept referring to Hook in that context. _

_ “He’s not my boyfriend,” Emma muttered every time. _

_ “Yet,” Killian would say with that stupid grin, and Regina would disappear in a cloud of smoke. “She’s just jealous.” Emma would scowl and wonder what he knew. _

_ She said nothing to anyone, hoping to forget it. _

_ She told herself she still didn’t believe in soulmates, but when Regina started saying  _ our _ magic and  _ our _ son and seemed to glow all on her own without the path created by the pixie dust, it was hard to  _ not _ fall for her.  _

_ Emma couldn’t say she didn’t try. _

**xxx**

_ Ever since Neverland, Emma had been acting really unusual. Regina wasn’t sure exactly when it started, maybe a third of the way through the trip, but something had happened. It took her a little while to notice, but soon it started to get to her.  _

_ The way Emma would just stand there and stare at her for no reason whatsoever, the way she didn’t react to any of Killian’s advances at all, the way that Neal had suddenly given up his fight against Killian to win Emma’s heart, and especially the way Tink seemed to take to Emma, always nudging her like they had some kind of inside joke. _

_ “What gives, Miss Swan?” she asked one day, a little louder and snappier than she meant, but it didn’t phase Emma. _

_ “What do you mean?” _

_ “Nothing,” she muttered, giving up. Maybe she would act normal once they returned home and everything went back to the way it was.  _

_ Of course, returning home and returning to the way it was were two different things. First, Henry was Pan, then Pan cast a curse, and then Regina had to send Emma and Henry over the town line with new memories that didn’t include her. _

_ She hadn’t expected Emma to cry. _

_ Then it was a year later and Hook had dragged Emma back, rescuing her from a life that was hardly real and a proposal with a winged monkey and she was back in Storybrooke with a Henry that couldn’t remember that he had two moms instead of one.  _

_ It was hard to tell if anything was back to normal after they had all come back to a home that could never be considered as such, so Regina just stopped thinking about anything strange that had ever happened between her and Emma. _

_ At least until she found Hook yelling at Neal about how  _ he _ should be with Emma. _

_ “Killian, I’m not talking about this with you,” Neal said, looking done with it all.  _

_ “I don’t need you to  _ talk _ , Baelfire, I need you to  _ listen _ .” _

_ Regina couldn’t help but laugh at that, bringing her to the attention of both men. Hook looked even more pissed off, Neal looked relieved albeit a little afraid, and Killian was about to say something undoubtedly rude when someone else beat him to it. “Oh  _ god _ , not this again.” All three heads turned to see Tinkerbell, turning away from the bar at Granny’s to face them. Killian puffed out his chest. “Come on, let’s take this outside.” _

_ She wasn’t sure why she went, curiosity maybe, but Regina followed them out the back of the diner, wondering what the hell was going on, surprised when the fairy suddenly had a small bag of pixie dust in her palm.  _

_ “You boys want to settle this?” _

_ Regina eyed them as they reacted to Tink’s question. Neal shook his head just slightly, and Killian grinned as if that proved anything at all. The look on his face made Regina want to prove he was wrong even more. She could feel the irritation bubbling up in her chest.  _

_ “It’s harmless,” Regina said, her eyes on Neal, hoping that he would be Emma’s soulmate because  _ better him than Killian _ .  _

_ She was expecting him to relent and go for it, but instead he just gave a half shrug, “I know. Emma’s done it before.” _

_ Regina blinked, surprised, “What?” She glanced from Neal, avoiding her gaze, Killian, growing more irritated by the minute, and Tink, waiting expectantly. “When? Why?” _

_ “Neverland.” _

Neverland _ . Something about the answer tugged in Regina’s chest. She remembered one day, Emma slowly walking up to the campsite, her green eyes wide and unmoving from Regina. She remembered nothing feeling quite  _ the same _ after that, but  _ no _ . That would mean-- _

_ “If Neal won’t do it, I will.” _

_ Tink looked amused, “You already did this, remember? You already found your soulmate....” _

_ “Times change.” _

_ Regina glared the fairy down until she caved. Placing the bag in Neal’s hand, Tink pulled some off, sprinkled it into her hand and blew the first round at Regina and then the second at Killian. He let out a noise of arrogant triumph when there was suddenly a gray mist leading him in the direction of the Sheriff’s station, but it quickly died out when he saw that Regina had a similar yellow mist running alongside his. _

_ They followed it together, all the way through Storybrooke; through the front doors of the station and into the main office, where two lines of mist, one gray and one yellow, ran straight into an oblivious Emma. _

_ Killian and Regina were both stunned. _

_ They both left before Emma noticed they were there, marching wordlessly back into Granny’s. “We need to talk,” Killian said as Regina pulled Tink by the elbow toward an empty booth.  _

_ “You found your soulmates?” _

_ “Soul _ mate _ , you mean. Singular,” Regina said, doing everything in her power to remain focussed, not letting herself wonder what it could mean that Emma Swan of all people was her soulmate. _

_ Tink wasn’t getting it. “Both of us were led to Emma. Why?” Killian demanded. _

_ It wasn’t what the fairy was expecting. “I’ve never seen that happen before,” she admitted. “I know that magic is different here...” Her eyes drifted to Regina’s. “If  _ you  _ don’t know, that only leaves one person we can ask.” _

_ A cloud of purple smoke later, the three of them appeared in Gold’s shop, and he looked completely unsurprised to see them, letting out a breath of a laugh, Neal standing next to him, rubbing the back of his neck. “I was wondering when you would show up. Bae just told me everything.” _

_ “So?” Killian started, making a few aggressive strides into the room. “She’s  _ my _ soulmate right? Regina’s smoke just glitched. The fairy said it herself. She already found her soulmate.” _

_ Gold laughed humorlessly, “That she did. In a pub in the Enchanted Forest. Now, Regina, correct me if I’m wrong, but you never went in to meet him, did you?” _

_ “No.” _

_ “Then, there you have it.”  _

_ Killian shifted uneasily, “Have what?” _

_ “That possibility has passed. If she’d gone into the pub, she would have her soulmate. But as it happens, the entire course of her life shifted. The person she was when she was tethered to Robin Hood no longer exists in this reality, and in its place, a new soulmate tie is being formed. To Emma Swan.” _

_ “But what about me?” _

_ Regina didn’t hold back the eye roll that time. “You also have a soulmate tie being formed to Miss Swan.” _

_ The silence that followed was uncomfortable, the tension so thick it felt almost tangible. Everyone hung on edge, waiting for Gold to continue, but when he offered no further explanation, Tink spoke up. “So why did we see both? When Emma did it in Neverland, we only saw one.” _

_ “Because it didn’t work when Emma did it,” Killian scowled. _

_ “Uh, yeah. It did,” Neal corrected. _

_ Rumple cleared his throat, silencing Killian, “Soulmate magic connects people differently across realms. The Enchanted Forest is a place of tradition and monogamous and heteronormative True Love, which defines the way soulmate magic runs there. Same with Neverland. Neverland is a place that leads people to accept truths about themselves. If soulmate magic led Emma to one person in Neverland, it would have been more telling about her own desires than about her future.” _

_ “What about our realm? Here?” _

_ “This realm is divided, full of choices. Soulmate magic led you both to Emma because one of you will be her soulmate, but both of you could be.” _

_ “Well,” Killian stated impatiently, “how do we know which it is?’ _

_ Regina snorted. _

_ “You don’t know.” _

_ “But--” With a wave of Gold’s hand, Killian’s voice was gone.  _

_ “I’m talking,” the imp sneered. After a few beats of silence where Killian tried to talk and Regina tried not to laugh, Gold carried on. “Everyone’s life is made of possibilities, but only one ever sees the light of day. It will be on Emma what her future holds, or should I say,  _ who _ her future holds. It’s likely a decision rooted in true love.” _

_ “True Love’s Kiss?” Tink asked. _

_ Gold shook his head. “Stronger. Something more like--” _

_ “Sacrifice.” _

_ “Exactly,” Rumple says, nodding at Regina in affirmation. “But the universe that dictates this realm is unforgiving, especially for someone who’s supposed to be the Savior. When that time comes, the sacrifice could lead her down the wrong path. There’s always something to keep her from life’s full potential. Say… if she sacrifices herself for you,” he said, pointing to Regina, “She couldn’t be with you.” _

_ The words played over and over in Regina’s mind as she walked back to Granny’s, Killian a few paces in front of her, remaining just as silent. They ordered their drinks and sat across from each other at a table without even thinking about it. _

_ It wasn’t until Killian got up for a second drink and came back that either of them spoke at all. “She would never sacrifice herself for you, so I guess I’m fucked,” Killian said, downing the liquor. _

_ Regina shrugged, “We won’t know. The price of being Emma’s soulmate sounds high.” _

_ “You don’t deserve to have a potential tie to her. I should be the only one,” Killian scowled. _

_ She didn’t bother fighting back, finishing off her drink, but that’s when it hit her.  _

_ Killian might be Emma’s future. _

_ It was enough to encourage Regina to stand and make her way to the door, not bothering to say goodbye, not bothering to look back, and not bothering to pay attention to where she was going.  _

_ “Emma,” she gasped when she realized who she’d just run into. _

_ This time, she didn’t miss the way Emma’s eyes lit up when they met hers. She didn’t miss how the blonde went from frowning to full on beaming, and she didn’t miss the way Emma’s hand brushed lightly against her arm as she said  _ hey _ . _

_ She didn’t miss the goosebumps forming on her skin under Emma’s touch. _

_ That was when it hit her. _

She _ might be Emma’s future. _

_ Regina may not know any absolutes about the situation, but she is sure of one thing. Whatever the price was, to tether Emma to her as her soulmate rather than Killian, she was willing to pay it. _


	2. Chapter 2

So much has happened since the pixie dust ordeal in Neverland, Emma can’t keep it straight. The one thing she’s more sure of than anything is that she absolutely failed at her whole goal to  _ not _ fall for Regina. She hadn’t wanted to give in to the pixie dust’s supposed fate for her, but she had anyway. 

When they had to be separated at the town line, Emma was sure it was over. She would never see Regina again, and the love of her life would just continue to haunt her dreams as the woman she couldn’t remember. She’d gotten engaged and then had a pirate cosplayer in a cheap costume appear at her door and try to kiss her, taken a potion given to her by the same untrustworthy poser, and been led back  _ home _ where everyone she’d said goodbye to a year ago was waiting. 

That included her father and her  _ very  _ pregnant mother.

That included Hook, who still couldn’t seem to take no for an answer.

That included Regina.

Then some other stuff happened, and all Emma could think was about how  _ absence makes the heart grow fonder _ couldn’t be any more accurate.

But in her defense, proximity also had a strong effect on her heart. Among other things, but there was never time to deal with it, so Emma just pushed the thoughts aside. Besides, Regina probably still hates her (even if she doesn’t want to kill her anymore).  _ Baby steps _ , Emma thinks. In about seventy years, maybe Emma could finally have her shot.

Soulmates seem arbitrary anyway, and while she doesn’t want to even think that there was a world in which Robin and Regina ended up together, the whole deal only further proved her soulmate theories, which just extended to a  _ yeah right _ state of mind and an awkward laugh like she had no experience on the matter.

Now there’s some other threatening force of nature against them, or maybe just Rumple (Emma isn’t really sure), but no matter the case, he’s not faring too well, and neither is the Apprentice, who seems to think Darkness is about to be on the loose. “We have to contain it somehow,” he says, “But this may not work.”

It all seems a little far fetched to Emma, though she isn’t sure why anything surprises her anymore.

But then the darkness escapes, just as he predicted, and the man dies. Darkness is drifting somewhere around Storybrooke, and now they’re all running down the streets of Storybrooke trying to look for something that doesn’t even have a corporeal form.

Snow and David are already huddled together like they’re prepared to die together, and Killian and Robin are both trying to out-man the other. Emma’s got the Dark One dagger in her hand as she runs down the street, and when Regina calls out to her, she’s half convinced the woman is going to reprimand her for running with a sharp object.

“Emma!”

The blonde spins on the spot at the second call of her name and doesn’t hesitate before running to Regina like an obedient puppy. “What’s wrong?” the brunette wrings her hands together, looking all around them with a worried expression.

“I need to tell you something.”

It sounds like the start of a goodbye.

“Regina…”

“No, Emma, listen. I don’t know if  _ this _ is it, or if it’s another time entirely, but this feels like it  _ could  _ be it, and I don’t want to risk it--”

“Regina, you’re not making any sense.” Regina looks down at her hands then, her mouth in a tight line as if she’s finished talking about this. It makes Emma even more concerned, and she brushes her hand over Regina’s arm. The brunette shivers. “Are you feeling okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“No… no, you’re not fine,” Emma insists. “I  _ know  _ you. Something’s wrong.” Her words just make regina cross her arms tight across her chest. “Talk to me,” Emma says, her voice soft, and Regina finally meets her gaze, a broken look in her eyes.

“I know you don’t believe in soulmates,” she starts, and Emma’s eyes widen. She thought Regina didn’t believe in soulmates either after her previous experience with the concept fell through, but now that she’s standing here talking about it, Emma can’t help but wonder what’s holding her so steadfastly to the belief. “Just… if something happens to me, I need you to let it.”

Emma’s brow furrows, “What?”

“Don’t do anything reckless just to make sure I’m okay. It’s… it’s the only way, Emma.”

“The only way…” Emma mutters. “The only way  _ to what _ ?”

“You  _ know _ … don’t you?” The blonde cocks her head, and Regina sighs. “You know about your soulmate situation, don’t you?”

“ _ Situation _ ?” Emma repeats, confused. The only  _ situation _ she knows is that Regina is her soulmate but doesn’t love her. But then again, if that were the situation Regina were talking about, it probably wouldn’t be a situation, especially not with the gentle way the woman’s dark eyes meet with hers. 

“There’s a defining moment that determines who your soulmate will be, Emma. I think this is it.”

She doesn’t  _ understand _ what Regina's trying to say. She wants to ask about it, but she has so many questions that she isn’t sure where to start. She’s muttering the words, “I know who my soulmate is,” just as Killian comes up and tugs on her arm with his hook.

“Come on, love, let’s not get distracted.” 

Does he really think Emma can’t see the sneer on his face when he looks back at Regina? 

She glances helplessly back at the other woman who gives her a pointed look that Killian doesn’t catch. For one horrible moment, Emma wonders what kind of nightmare she’d be living if  _ he  _ were her soulmate, but she can’t bear to think of it for too long, so she drops the idea and tugs her arm from his hook without ripping her sweater. “I was talking to Regina,” she says, trying to sound firm but not cruel.

He looks butthurt anyway. “She can team up with her own soulmate,” he suddenly scowls. “We can look for the darkness together.”

The minute he says it, there’s a sound off in the distance, and Emma doesn’t know  _ what _ it is, but it doesn’t sound  _ good _ , and before she can find the source, it’s swirling down from the sky and wrapping itself around Regina’s body, pulling her harshly away from the group, coiling around her as if to suffocate her. Everyone stops and looks on in horror, but all Emma can think is  _ I have to save her _ . 

She starts to run forward, and the only one who tries to stop her is Regina, who shouts at her through the cracks in the darkness’s hold.

“Emma! No!”

Because it’s Regina, Emma freezes in place.

Because it’s Regina, Emma fights her on it.

“You’ve worked too hard to have your happiness destroyed!”

It’s hard to see Regina through the shreds of the darkness, but it’s impossible to miss the way her eyes shift from panic to heartbreak. “Then  _ don’t _ do this,” she says. It’s not a whisper, but it’s almost too hard to make out over the sound of the darkness trying to consume Regina

“I have to,” Emma says. “I… I’m not going to let it take you!”

Regina’s about to shout back, but then Killian is there instead prodding Emma urgently. She spins on the spot to glare at him. “What?” she snaps, no longer worried about being courteous to spare his feelings.

She’s expecting him to add to the  _ don’t do this _ dialogue, given the fact that he told her he was in love with her not even a week ago, so when he instead says “ _ do it _ ,” Emma blinks in surprise.

“What?”

“You heard me,” he nods towards Regina. “Do it. Sacrifice yourself for her. You know I’ll save you.”

Something about it is just so…  _ fucked up _ , that it makes Emma pause. It makes her want to do exactly the opposite of what he says and instead listen to Regina. But when she looks back over to see the darkness threatening to take her over, Emma feels more torn than ever before.

She locks eyes with Regina again, catches the pleading gaze the woman has on her, and suddenly what she had been saying not long before this sinks in…  _ if something happens to me, I need you to let it _ …  _ it’s the only way _ …  _ your soulmate situation _ …  _ a defining moment that determines who your soulmate will be _ … 

This is it.

Emma stares at Regina slack jawed as she tries to process this information. All she knows is that the woman standing before her, stifled by strips of darkness, is her soulmate, but she knows that soulmate discoveries differ between realms, and she’d found out in Neverland. Did that mean she’d missed something?

“Go on, Emma. Do it,” Hook says again, and Emma swears she can hear Regina’s scoff over the roars of the darkness.

She turns back to Killian and shoves him hard. “Tell me what you know!” He looks taken aback, but raises his hands innocently and says nothing, backing away as if acknowledging that this is  _ her _ decision, and nothing he can say will change her mind.

She turns back to Regina, walking as close as the darkness will allow. She doesn’t realize she’s crying until everything blurs and hot tears roll down her face when she blinks. Regina’s in the same position, her makeup smudged as she forces herself to keep eye contact with Emma as she struggles against the darkness’s grip on her.

“There has to be another way,” Emma cries.

The brunette shakes her head once. “There isn’t.” 

“ _ Why?” _ Emma pleads for an answer she knows she already has, and Regina shakes her head again as a sob racks her body. “Regina, I can’t just let this happen to you. I…” she hesitates. “I lov--”

But then there’s a violent shove from behind her, interrupting her confession, and she almost topples face first into the darkness, but she catches herself and turns back to see Killian’s face, put out by the fact that he failed to put his supposed  _ true love _ right in harm’s way.

It makes too much sense to Emma, why she has to let Regina go. If she doesn’t, she’ll be stuck living a nightmare with Hook as her soulmate. It’s a reality she hopes to never witness. “What are you waiting for?” Killian asks impatiently, and Emma shoves him back again, turning to face Regina. 

“I’ll save you.”

“I know,” Regina says, managing a pained smile, and it’s the last thing Emma hears her say before she’s pulled off the ground and sucked into apparent oblivion by the darkness. The dagger in Emma’s hand burns so much so suddenly that she drops it, and it clatters to the ground.

She nurses her hand as she looks down at it, and the pain of what she sees engraved on the dagger makes her forget her hand entirely.

_ Regina Mills. _


	3. Chapter 3

The next five minutes are kind of a blur, at least for Emma.

She’s fallen down next to the dagger, with tears streaming down her face, trying to rationalize what just happened, trying to give herself hope, trying to stand back up and make some semblance of a plan, but all she can do is sob into the asphalt.

It takes her a minute to register the voices around her. She can hear her mother trying to comfort her, to ease her up, but her voice is overshadowed by Killian, who stands over the both of them, shouting down, “Emma, are you kidding me?! I told you to do it! I told you I would save you when the darkness took you!”

She actually feels  _ guilty  _ because of him, so she dismisses his words and tries to focus on Snow’s voice in her ear. “Sweetie, we’ll save her. We’ll always save her,” as she’s brought to her feet by both of her parents. Killian is still shouting.

Robin stands off to the side looking perturbed, his eyes on Killian as he doesn’t let up before he pushes past the pirate to check on Emma. “Hey, don’t listen to him,” he says, loud enough for Emma to hear, but low enough that Killian can’t. 

“I should have saved her,” Emma mutters. “I made the wrong choice. I should have…”

David shakes his head at her, “You couldn’t have made any other choice. She’s your true love. When we save her, and we  _ will _ save her, she still will be. You made the right choice, Emma. Trust me.”

“You’re not really gonna believe that are you?” Killian growls. “This wasn’t supposed to happen like this. You were supposed to be with  _ me.  _ You will be with--” Robin interrupts him with a crack of Hook’s nose with his fist. He doesn’t try to speak again.

Emma’s composure has more or less returned, but by the time they’ve walked into Granny’s and she hears Henry shout for her across the room, she crumbles again, and David helps sit her down into the nearest booth. Henry squeezes in next to her and it’s amazing how he just  _ knows _ something bad has happened and that it’s about his other mother.

“Ma?” She holds back the tears for Henry, but he’s strong, and he sets his hand on her shoulder as he straightens up and tries to smile at her. “We’re going to save her.”

Emma smiles back at him, ruffling his hair. “You’re so confident.”

“Good always wins,” he says with a shrug, “And true love doesn’t hurt.”

“Neither does a plan,” Emma points out.

“Operation Soulmate?” Henry grins, and Emma shakes her head with a chuckle. He always knows so much. “And keep a good eye on that dagger, okay, Ma? It should be you.”

“Sure, kid.”

Hook scowls from the next booth.

Everyone gathers in Granny’s in a rescue squad that includes everyone that was present at Regina’s disappearance, as well as Zelena, Henry, Ruby, and Granny. To everyone’s surprise, Zelena seems to have suddenly turned her whole perspective around, willing to fight just to get her sister back, even though she claims it’s because  _ Regina doesn’t deserve to be the Dark One _ , and even though Emma definitely catches her wiping tears from her eyes, she keeps the dagger away from her nonetheless.

“So, I’ve already tried to summon her, and it didn’t work, which means she isn’t in this realm,” Zelena starts. “Since we don’t know where she went, we’ll need something to follow her trail. Something deeply personal to her. It has to be the right thing, or else this whole thing will fail.”

Emma’s about to suggest the obvious, that they just need Henry or something sentimental from Henry’s childhood, but then the boy in question shares a look and a nod with his aunt and races from the diner with a quick, “be right back.” Emma frowns after him.

“He knows what it is,” Zelena says with an awkward pat to the blonde’s head. She flinches away. “Don’t worry, it’s an author thing, I guess. Or he just knows her better.” Emma frowns more at that, and the redhead laughs once, “Relax, Emma. It’s something she’s kept from you. For  _ reasons _ .”

She doesn’t know what that means, but  _ okay _ . She holds tight as they wait for Henry, and Zelena tells them more about the spell. They’re going to use the personal item as a guide, enchanted with both soulmate magic and blood magic, and they would be riding one of Zelena’s favorite cyclones to jump realms.

The cyclone part concerns Emma, but at this point, she’s not gonna complain, even if Zelena’s methods are… questionable.

By the time Henry bursts through the door empty handed, they have everything prepared, with the exception of Regina’s sentimental item. “You didn’t find it?” Emma asks as she turns to Henry.

He laughs before reaching into his pocket with one hand and taking Emma’s with the other. She feels the item cool against her palm and lets out a breath when Henry pulls his hand away and she gets a good look at the item. 

It’s the trigger they’d stopped together in the mines.

She holds it in her hand and stares at it with wide eyes, remembering the way it had just hovered there, looking too simple to be harmful, and the way Regina had looked down at it, her cheeks flushed as it sank in what she would need to do.

She remembers the way Regina had decided she would sacrifice herself to save the town, the way she’d said goodbye, and the way she’d looked at Emma before Emma left her alone down there for the first and the last time. She remembers watching as it drained Regina’s magic, and she remembers the moment when she decided she wasn’t going to let Regina do it alone.

She remembers  _ You may not be strong enough but maybe we are _ and the way their magic felt activated alongside each other. She remembers the triumphant warmth she felt in her fingers when their magic became one with each other’s and the warmth in her chest when Regina affirmed their success with a look.

She remembers  _ we did it _ and  _ yes we did _ .

She’s going to find Regina, she’s going to save her, she’s going to be able to say two different sets of three little words. 

_ We did it, _ and

_ I love you. _

“This?” she can’t help but ask with a whisper, turning the stone in her hand as she looks to Henry, to Zelena, to her parents. She understands why, but it’s not something she ever would have expected.

Henry grins at her. “You were a team that day. You’ll be a team every day when we save her.” Snow nods with a watery smile. “Trust me, Emma. If anyone can save her, it’s you.”

Emma turns the diamond in her hand a few times before nodding and holding it out in front of her. “We’re ready,” Zelena says, and Emma takes the wand from her, waving it over the item until it glows purple. She grins up at Henry as the building lifts up off the ground and takes off. 

They have to grip the counter, hold onto booths and tables nailed to the floor as the cyclone sucks them in and spins them around and around and around until they hit the ground with a hard thud. A few people fall over, one being Killian, and Emma fights back a snort.

“Did we make it?” Robin asks, the first to speak as he pulls himself back to his feet. “Should we go out there?”

“It looks dark,” David says, peeking out the closed blinds. “Maybe we should wait until morning, so we can see what’s going on. Besides, some rest might not hurt.”

Emma doesn’t want to agree. She wants to go out and find Regina right now, but she can feel her energy draining after a long day, not to mention the trip there, and it’s that, along with a convincing look from Henry that convinces her to let it go and turn in.

“We’ll meet back up in the morning. Regina’s going to be fine,” Snow says with a reassuring smile. Emma nods, but can’t bring herself to smile back. “Finding her will be better once we’ve rested. You look like you need it, Emma.”

They all take rooms in Granny’s and even though Emma is used to sleeping alone, it suddenly feels uncomfortable. She tosses and turns for the majority of the night, and when she finally drifts off, her sleep is restless and riddled with scenes from an unfortunate dream straight from an alternate reality. 

_ She watches herself running towards Regina, surrounded by the swirling darkness, fighting to get to her against Regina’s stubborn insistence to stay away. She doesn’t see Hook as much as she had in the event, and when she does, he tells her he loves her before she thrusts the dagger into the darkness, wincing as it coiling down her arm and sucks her away. _

_ The next thing she sees is her, back to normal, in a big gray house she doesn’t recognize. Somewhere too big for just her, and she doesn’t understand until suddenly there are arms snaking around her waist, and Killian’s voice whispers in her ear, _ “We’re going to build a family here, love.”

**xxx**

Emma wakes with a start, sweating and shaking a little, and she’s disoriented at first when she wakes up in an unfamiliar bed, worried that somehow her dream wasn’t actually a dream at all, but then she sees a Storybrooke brochure on the bedside table and relaxes. She’s only in Granny’s… in an unknown realm.

With a heavy sigh, she swings her legs over the other side of the bed and stretches her neck before standing and slipping her shoes and jacket on. She takes quiet steps down the hallway and slips from the door, making sure it’s unlocked for her return.

It’s the first time any of them have been outside in this unknown realm, but Emma is surprised at how comfortable it feels. The temperature is perfect, the weather seems perfect. It’s all very… neutral, but the fresh air calms her.

She wanders around the perimeter, taking in her surroundings. It looks like they’re in the middle of a forest, and if Emma didn’t know any better, she’d say they were actually in the Enchanted Forest, but she can’t think of  _ why _ that would be the case. The sun is slowly creeping up in the distance, which is fine because Emma had pretty much given up on sleep anyways. She’s about to turn back and see if the coffee machine will still work when she runs right into Killian, storming outside.

“Hey, watch where you’re going,” Emma mumbles as she pulls away and heads around him, but he slips his hook around her arm, preventing her from going anywhere. She winces, not wanting to tear her arm back at the risk of injuring herself. “Can you please--”

“I need to talk to you.”

“How about we talk when you learn not to be so aggressive…”Emma snorts, slipping her arm from the hook and moving back to the door. Killian just grabs her with his hand this time. “Wow, downgrade,” Emma quips, yanking her arm from his grasp. “What’s your problem? If you want me to explain what Regina was talking about before she got taken, I don’t know anything. You heard the same as I did. If you want to ask me where we are, I don’t know. If you want to apologize for trying to push me into the darkness against my will, I’m all ears.”

Killian grits his teeth, breathing through them, “I was  _ not _ \--”

“You were. You pushed me.” He doesn’t relax, but he does back up a bit, and Emma takes advantage, advancing just slightly. “If you want to talk, how about you explain to me why you wanted me to save Regina so badly? And why you suddenly seem like you don’t care what happens to her or me?”

He hesitates, but he looks almost guilty for just a moment, and it’s enough to let Emma know that he’s going to explain honestly, more or less, but before he can, there’s a rustling of leaves from somewhere behind him, and he flinches around, pushing Emma ahead of him. She scoffs but stands her ground.

It’s light enough now that they’ll be able to see who (or what) is about to come through the trees, but given the fact that they still don’t know where they are, it’s only a small relief. Emma has her magic dancing around her fingertips, ready to defend herself, but when she sees Regina walking into the clearing with a lost expression on her face, Emma actually laughs in relief.

“Regina! I can’t believe we just… found you like this! It hasn’t even been a whole day yet!” Regina’s eyes are wide when they meet Emma’s, and she gasps a little, walking towards her as if she can’t believe the blonde is really standing there. “So… you changed clothes?” Emma asks, regarding the woman as she inches closer. She was wearing  _ jeans _ and a flannel shirt that looks like it came right out of Emma’s closet.

When Regina gets within arms reach of Emma, she doesn’t stop there. She keeps moving forward until their chests are almost touching, and she raises her hand so that her fingers brush over Emma’s lips almost imperceptibly.

Needless to say, the blonde stops breathing.

Regina’s eyes raise to meet Emma’s again, and they soften when they take in the blonde’s expression. “You’re not my Emma,” Regina whispers, her brows knitting together.

“I, um…” Emma trails off, unsure what to say. She watches as Regina’s eyes flicker to Killian standing behind Emma before returning to lock with green eyes. 

Her head cocks. “I knew something felt off…”

“Regina, what are you talking about? Is this about the darkness?”

The other woman glances back at Granny’s and again at Killian before taking a step back. “I have to go,” she says before running back in the direction she came, leaving Emma gaping after her.

As soon as Regina’s out of sight, Emma turns on Killian, giving his shoulder a hard shove. “Ow!” he exclaims. “What was that for?”

“You scared her off!”

He scowls, “She obviously has a screw loose. It’s not like she’s your soulmate or anything.”

The mention of soulmates makes Emma’s heart thump in her chest. She glares in Killian’s direction, walking towards until she has him backed up against the wall of Granny’s. “I need you to tell me everything, Killian. Right now.” He gives her a look like he doesn’t understand and she groans. “You know something. Tell me everything. What were you going to say before she got here?”

He stutters once before the door opens.

“Emma! There you are!”

“Mom, what--” mary margaret envelops her in a tight hug before Emma manages to wiggle out. “It’s barely morning. I just came out for some fresh air.”

Her mother side eyes Hook only a foot away, his back still against the diner, but she doesn’t mention it, though Emma can tell she’s thinking about it, her brows furrowing together. “Alright,” she says before her eyes wander away from Granny’s and towards the forest. “Wow, this looks a lot like home doesn’t it,” she mutters more to herself than anyone. 

“Yeah, but I doubt that’s where we are.”

“Emma, I know you don’t  _ like _ the Enchanted Forest, but that doesn’t--”

“Mom!” Emma interrupts. “This isn’t about what I like or don’t like. I’m being  _ logical _ . You know, trying to channel my inner Regina or whatever. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go find her.” She starts to walk away, but turns around to quips, “Unless either of you have a problem with that,” her gaze more steady on Hook than anyone else.

She doesn’t bother to wait for a response before stalking through the trees in the direction Regina had gone earlier, hoping to find the woman herself, or at least some answers.

She walks enough to no longer hear her mother’s voice in the distance and then goes a little more, but everything seems too consistent, too quiet. It’s another fifty meters or so when Emma realizes that she doesn’t hear anything… at all. 

There are no chirping birds, no rustling of squirrels, and no insects buzzing, and it’s more unsettling than anything. She debates turning around, but before she can weigh the pros and cons of doing so, she hears someone walking in the distance.

She listens closer, and the walking sounds more like  _ stomping _ , but there’s also a kind of irritated mumbling happening as well, so Emma knows the likeliness of this being a threat is unlikely. Besides. Someone stomping around complaining under their breath… sounds familiar, doesn’t it? She smirks to herself as she walks closer to the source.

“Reg--” she starts to ask as she rounds the corner, but the minute she sees who’s standing in front of her, the rest of the woman’s name falls silent.

Emma’s standing face to face with herself.

Well,  _ kind of  _ herself.

The Emma in front of her is clearly younger, just out of high school maybe, and looking entirely too teen angst for her own good. To her credit, she doesn’t seem phased by Emma’s presence, and she actually has the nerve to roll her eyes when Emma gapes, rendered speechless.

Teen Emma scoffs. “What the fuck is your problem? You act like you’ve never met me.”

“Um…” Emma starts, honestly not sure how to respond to that. It’s such an insane concept, she starts to wonder of she brushed against a hallucinogenic plant or had someone cast a spell on her somehow. “No? I mean… I  _ was _ you, but I’ve never  _ met  _ you…” Teen Emma gives her a blank stare like she can’t fathom the words leaving Emma’s mouth.  _ Touché _ , Emma thinks.

But suddenly, something dawns on Teen Emma, recognition reaching her eyes for a moment before her whole expression turns into an apathetic, teenage sneer. “Oh. You’re  _ linear _ , aren’t you?”

This has Emma taken even more aback. Judging by the judgmental look her younger self had just given her, she was prepared to defend herself against some crude and unnecessary insult, but  _ linear _ ? “What?”

“Oh my  _ god _ , I hate you even more than the others,” Teen Emma says, crossing her arms over her chest, and giving Emma a look like she’s trying to insult her existence, which to be fair she kind of just did, but the older blonde is too lost to take it to heart. Besides, she’s not going to let a figment of her imagination get to her like this.

She tells her as much.

“You can’t hurt me if you’re not real,” Emma says, crossing her own arms and reflecting her younger self’s position.

“I’m as real as you are!”

“That’s literally impossible!”

Teen Emma starts laughing then, and it irritates Emma that she’s being laughed at by a clueless, nonexistent version of herself (and quite frankly a rude little shit)  _ and _ that she can’t make sense of anything, especially not if she’s imagining things.

“I’m leaving,” Emma huffs, turning on her feet. Teen Emma doesn’t care to stop her.  _ Good riddance _ , the older woman thinks as she heads in a roundabout direction back to Granny’s, hoping to avoid whatever hallucinogens she must have walked through, and  _ maybe _ to get some real answers this time.

For once, something seems to go in her favor.

She spots Regina after only ten minutes of walking, but her brow furrows when she sees the woman isn’t wearing the same clothes as Emma had seen her in earlier. This time she has on a dark cloak that looks dark and intimidating, but Emma pushes it out of her mind, acknowledging that wardrobe decisions and changes are the least of her worries.

“Regina!” She calls out as she jogs in the other woman’s direction, but it’s less than a second later that she’s being blasted back with a surge of magic more powerful than anything she’s felt before. She lands on a bush and struggles to stand back up and regain her bearings.

Everything is spinning, and when she sees Regina go from far away to suddenly in her face, she’s sure she’s still hallucinating, but the pain feels too real. The brunette snarls at her. “How did you find me?”

Emma opens her mouth to answer, but nothing comes out. She’s tossed back through the air once again, landing hard on her back. She grunts when she hits the ground, lying still for a moment to use some healing magic before attempting to move. 

Half expecting another attack from Regina, Emma remains where she is, but no other attack comes. She wonders why Regina’s suddenly acting so different than she had earlier. If this had been the first encounter with the woman after she’d been consumed by the darkness, it would make so much sense, but her earlier run in makes everything seem that much more complicated. 

Suddenly there’s a soft crying nearby, and Emma sits up, surprised yet again to see Regina crouched by a tree, sobbing into her cloak, and she crawls over to make sure everything’s okay. “Hey,” she says, her voice soft. The crying doesn’t stop, and Regina refuses to look at her, so Emma gently rests her hand under the brunette’s chin and tilts it toward her. The woman’s dark eyes are sealed closed, refusing to look at Emma. “Regina?”

There’s a lengthy silence, and Emma’s sure that Regina isn’t going to speak at all, but then she hears a small whisper, “I can’t do it.”

“What?”

“I can’t do it, Emma. I can’t be evil again,” she admits with a sob, pulling her face away from the blonde. Emma takes her hand instead.

“Hey,” she says again, keeping her voice as gentle as possible. “Look at me.” She doubts the brunette will, but she does, and Emma gives her a reassuring smile. “You saved me, now I’ll save you.”

“I just tried to kill you. I didn’t save you.”

“You exist don’t you?” Regina half nods, half shrugs. “You save me every day, Regina. I’m going to make sure you make it out of this. I promise.” 

The brunette cries again, and Emma tries to pull her against her shoulder, but Regina resists. “I’m afraid I’ll hurt you again.”

“I can take you,” Emma says with a half hearted laugh. 

“I’m serious.”

Emma nods but isn’t as worried as she should be, given the circumstances. All that matters now that she has Regina in front of her is not losing her again, making her comfortable, and keeping the light inside her burning bright. “How about you come back with me?”

“No.”

“No? But…”

“I can’t,” Regina says. “I can’t know where you are, or where anyone is. I can’t control the darkness.” 

“That’s a lot of  _ can’t _ s…” Emma tries with a feeble laugh.

Regina shakes her head. “This isn’t pessimism. This is reality. I… I want you to be safe,” she softly admits. The blonde can't help but nod, even though she hates the idea of leaving Regina behind. “I trust you, Emma,” she says, her eyes filled with sincerity. “Now I need you to go.”

“But I--”

“Go,” Regina urges. “I know you’ll find a way to save me.”

“Wait,” Emma says, turning back before she stands. “Do you know where we are?”

Regina’s brow wrinkles in confusion. “We’re not in the Enchanted Forest?”

The question is the last thing Regina says before her eyes are darkening a moment later, and it’s scary, how quick she shifts from a fearful, lost Regina to Regina, the Dark One with no restraints. There’s half a second where the part of her that’s concerned for Emma’s life returns,, but it’s just to teleport herself away from the blonde, leaving Emma sitting alone in the dirt.

Not wanting to risk teleporting, Emma makes her way back to Granny’s at a running pace, hoping that someone has solid information on their location or maybe even knowledge about the ecosystem or the magic at work in the realm. No one is outside by the time she arrives, so she doesn’t hesitate before bursting through the front door of the diner.

No one seems alarmed, which is great, but it makes Emma even more suspicious of their location. “Hey guys, what’s up?” she tries to casually say between pants, but it doesn’t come across that way, and instead everyone just stares at her. 

Henry is the first to speak. “Ma, you’re really sweaty.” She glares at him. “I mean, can I get you some water?”

“It’s the least you could do for insulting me,” Emma grins, taking a seat next to Snow, who scoots over some more.

“I mean, he wasn’t wrong.”

“Mom!” Emma gapes at the woman behind her. “Just for that, I’m not leaving this seat. And anyway, I was running for a reason!” Henry hands her a bottle of water while the rest of the room stares expectantly at her. “I saw Regina,” she starts, skipping the whole bit about Teen Emma, “She’s okay, kind of, but she seems really unstable right now, so--” but the door chimes behind her and everyone’s attention, including Emma’s, is derailed.

Zelena takes an exaggerated breath as she enters the room. “Oh, good you’re all here,” she says with a pointed glance at Emma. “Anyway, you’ll never believe who I found!”

Emma’s filled with dread at whoever Zelena’s referring to, hoping it isn’t Regina, especially after what had happened earlier, not to mention Regina’s wishes not to know the location, which, now that Emma thinks about it is a little weird considering the encounter she and Killian had with her this morning…

Her confusion only grows when she snaps back to the present in time to see Zelena tugging in an equally confused Regina. She’s wearing  _ another _ outfit, different from both the other two and the one she had on when she was taken. This one is very Mayor Mills, and her hair is even short to match.

“I didn’t realize we had a Granny’s in the middle of the woods…” Regina mutters, taking in the establishment and paying no mind to the people inside.

“See, I told you she was acting crazy!” Emma announces, not trying to be  _ rude _ , but clearly something is wrong.

Regina glares at her, not a trace of friendliness in her eyes, but nothing especially  _ dark _ , almost as if this Regina’s gone back in time. “Crazy? You're one to talk Miss Swan,” she says with an empty laugh.

“Uh, I’m sorry, what?” Emma says, shaking her head and trying to ignore the vaguely derogatory look Regina’s giving her.

Suddenly, Ruby laughs, “Wow, you became the Dark One and you still act the same.”

At that the woman in question scoffs, “I’m not a Dark One.”

“If you aren’t, then who is?”

Emma turns to give her mother a look. “Mom, seriously? That’s a stupid question.” Regina’s sudden fit of laughter feels validating to Emma, even though she’s almost positive the woman is making fun of them.

“You’re not from here, are you?” Regina asks as her laughter dies down only a moment later, though her amusement stays firmly in place.

No one knows what to say to that, besides small shakes of their head that go unnoticed by Regina, and the way she had asked reminds Emma of earlier.  _ You act like you’ve never met me. You’re  _ linear _ , aren’t you? You’re not from here, are you? _

She thinks about seeing Regina three times today, each with a different outfit and seemingly with their own personality. She remembers a Teen Emma that told her  _ I hate you even more than the others _ .

“Wait,” she says suddenly, and Regina raises a brow ( _ the eyebrow of expectant disappointment _ , as Emma used to call it). “Which Regina are you?”

The room has a significant consensus of a reaction, namely that  _ Emma _ is the one who’s insane, but Regina smirks across the room before saying, “I’m the mayor of Storybrooke, from a world where my dark curse was never broken because Miss Swan successfully ate the apple turnover, went into a coma, and couldn’t save anyone.”

_ Well then. _

At that the room is silent, up until Henry asks the question everyone is thinking. “What are you talking about?”

Alternate Regina clears her throat. “This is the Realm of Possibilities.”


	4. Chapter 4

_ “Ma!” _

_ Emma hears Henry’s voice shouting at her from somewhere in the forest, she’s not sure where, but she frantically looks in all directions as if about to spot him in danger.  _

_ “Ma!” she hears again, but Emma squints this time. _

_ Something’s wrong. _

_ She steps forward, cautious to avoid any fallen sticks as she makes her way in the direction of the voice. She hears a giggle she’s ever only heard in a select group of false memories, and everything finally clicks when her eyes land on her son. _

_ Well, not  _ her _ son. _

_ This Henry is seven years old, dressed like a young Neal might have been in the Enchanted Forest. He squints back at her. “Sorry, I’m looking for another Ma. She’s not dressed as silly as you are.”  _

_ Before Emma can answer, she hears someone else calling for Henry. (“Mom!” Henry yells back with a toothy grin). She only sees Regina for a second, smiling softly back at Henry before the dream fades out. _

And now… 

Everything is dark.

Emma knows it’s because her eyes are closed, but she feels disoriented enough to not want to open them. She’s content to lying on the cool tile beneath her until the last possible moment, but when Henry groans from somewhere near her, her resolve breaks immediately, not just opening her eyes, but sitting up, turning to him. “Henry?”

“Ma?” he asks, sitting up and glancing around the room. “What happened?”

Everyone is on the floor of Granny’s, reorienting themselves, all just as lost as the other. Emma strains her mind for the last thing she can remember. Regina was there… kind of. It wasn’t  _ her _ Regina but  _ Mayor Mills _ , telling them they were in the Realm of Possibilities.

But when Emma glances out the window, the trees she’s seen what felt like moments ago have been replaced by Granny’s usual view of Storybrooke. “I don’t know,” she mumbles in response, helping her son up as the rest of the crew does the same. “What happened to Regina? Why are we back here?”

“What’s the last thing everyone remembers?” David asks, and they all immediately start recounting the same story that Emma had just been thinking about.

“That can’t be  _ everything _ ,” Snow points out. “I think we’ve lost enough memories to know that something happened to them… something happened in the Realm of Possibilities, and we need to figure out what it is.”

There’s only a few small murmurs of agreement before there’s a loud crash, caused by the door to Granny’s swinging open so violently that it shattered the window behind it. The cause to  _ that _ isn’t clear immediately, but it comes soon enough, Regina swooping in, wearing an outfit resembling her classic Evil Queen outfits, only more modernized to suit her Storybrooke presence better. She’s sneering as she struts into the diner, and if everyone wan’t already completely shocked, they are when Hook is hot on her heels, his usually styled hair, unkempt now as it falls on his face. His attitude is even more off putting than usual. Emma pushes Henry behind her.

“Regina?” she asks with a strangled breath, and the brunette’s gaze shifts directly to her. There’s a moment, so short that Emma almost doesn’t catch it, where Regina blanches a bit, her eyes widen and her lip quivers, but it goes as soon as it came. It’s then that Regina walks over to her, acting as though nothing had happened, and tucks a finger under her chin, moving in so close that Emma thinks she’s going to kiss her.

She doesn’t, of course.

“The  _ Savior _ ,” she sneers. “Fat lot of good that title’s done you.” She turns Emma’s face away from her, but doesn’t step back. Emma’s not sure, but if she’s talking about saving Regina… clearly something went wrong, but nothing is over yet.

“I made you a promise I intend to keep,” Emma says, turning back to Regina with a stubborn determination, the word  _ promise _ heavy on her tongue, remembering that she not only promised to  _ save _ Regina, she also promised her a happy ending. She plans to make good on both.

Regina scoffs, “Oh, are you?”

“Yes.” 

After a beat of silence, Snow fearfully nudges her daughter’s side, and it doesn’t go unnoticed as Regina makes a show of rolling her eyes. Emma resists doing the same, and instead focuses on the woman in front of her. “Regina, what happened?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” she drawls as she walks back to Killian, staring at all of them with an angry glint in his eyes and a cocky grin. Emma sucks in a breath as she watches her go, but doesn’t understand why. Something about  _ them _ feels different. For a moment she wonders if the Regina in front of her is really  _ theirs _ or just a different one, but she doesn’t wonder for long before the brunette reaches to her side and retrieves something familiar, something that the light hits, shining off the blade of the dagger and into Emma’s face. 

She squints at the Dark One dagger in Regina's hand, still reading  _ Regina Mills _ . Sure, there were a lot of Regina’s in the Realm of Possibilities, but there likely wasn’t  _ two _ Dark One Regina’s.

“How did you get that?” the blonde asks, boldly stepping forward. “It was--”

“I know where it was,” Regina snaps.

“Stupid bitch,” Killian mutters, but Emma still hears and she gapes at him in shock. It’s not like she really  _ liked _ him that much to begin with, but his  _ extra _ crass attitude isn’t making her feel better about having just lost an unknown amount of memories and maybe even her  _ soulmate _ .

Emma wonders if that’s still what they are to each other.

She tries not to think about the hollow space she feels inside her as she closes the distance between her and Regina, close enough that she’ll be able to talk to her without Killian overhearing. “I can help, Regina, just talk to me,” she pleads in a whisper.

For a minute, it seems like the other woman might really be considering it. Her eyes change just slightly, like they did back when Emma found her in the Realm of Possibilities, only less definite, less hopeful. Emma leans a little closer, but she turns away again. “Let’s go,” she snarls at Hook before disappearing into a cloud of purple smoke, darker than she remembers. Killian sneers at her before his own cloud of smoke takes him away in a swirl of deep red.

As if any of this couldn’t get more confusing.

There’s a moment of silence after they leave that feels long but entirely warranted, and no one really knows quite what to say as they stare at the place the apparent duo had disappeared from. 

Emma glances nervously behind her at Henry, who meets her gaze, a surprised expression on his face. She wants to tell him that everything will be fine, but her mind keeps drifting back to seeing their Regina in the Realm of Possibilities, the way she so strongly believed she would hurt everyone if she found them, the ways she  _ had  _ hurt Emma like it was nothing, the way her eyes changed when she lost control.

She must have lost it completely.

“What the hell was that?” Robin asks, the first to finally speak. He turns to Emma, his face reflecting her feelings of concern and disgust for Regina and Killian, respectively of course. “He couldn’t do  _ that _ before, right?”

Emma snorts, “No, we definitely would have known. His arrogant ass doing it all the time just to show off.”

“But how did he get magic? And why is he working with Regina?” mary margaret asks, thinking out loud. “We need our memories back.”

With a derisive scoff, Emma shakes her head, “Obviously, but how? We’ve been through this before, and getting our memories back has never been easy. Besides, none of you saw Regina as the Dark One until just now. She’s lethal.”

“We’ve handled her as the Evil Queen, I’m sure we can handle her as the Dark One.”

“This isn’t the same, Mom!” Emma shouts. “Your optimism is refreshing and all, but sometimes it’s just so goddamn annoying! Be  _ realistic _ for once. When Regina was the Evil Queen, it was all based solely on choices she made and the person she was taught to become. This time it’s because there is literal darkness inside of her, and it’s taken her over. I just--” Emma stops, putting her face in her hand. She takes a deep breath before shaking her head. “Nevermind. We need to stop wasting time.

“Mom, I need you to take Henry back to the loft. David, I need you and Robin to spread the news of what’s happened. Be as subtle as you can. Ruby, you can go too.” They all nod, silently conversing with each other through looks as they make their way out of the diner, leaving Zelena and Emma. “This is kind of a big favor, but you’re the only one I feel okay with asking to do this.”

“What is it?” 

Emma sighs, “I need to talk to Gold, but we also need someone to go into Regina’s vault. In case there’s anything in there we can use. I figured that you’re the best person to go because--”

“Blood magic?” Zelena offers. 

“Well, that, and normal magic. After I talk to Gold, I’m going to try and summon Regina so I can distract her, just so she won’t show up while you’re in there. In the meantime, you can come with me to Gold’s. Hopefully he’s awake.”

They waste no time in poofing themselves over, and when they try the door, it’s already unlocked. It’s not  _ abnormal _ for the pawn shop, even with the closed sign hanging on the window, but Emma’s filled with a sense of dread the second she crosses the threshold into the room. 

Emma takes quiet steps towards the back, despite the floorboards creaking under her feet. She doesn’t know what’s wrong, but she has a pretty good idea, and if she’s right, she doesn’t want this to end as horrible as it could. She doesn’t sense anyone else’s magic around her besides Zelena’s, but it’s clear there was magic use in here not long before their arrival.

Somehow Zelena’s made it to the back before her, probably impatiently magicking herself back there, and she appears in the doorway to the room with an incredibly shaken Belle leaning against her. “He’s gone,” she says.

Emma sucks in a breath, her suspicions nearly confirmed. “Was it--”

“Regina and Killian,” Belle nods, not needing Emma to finish the question.

“But why? What do they need him for? Isn’t he… just a man now?”

Belle shrugs helplessly. “Information maybe? He wasn’t even awake until they got here. Regina just snapped her fingers and Rumple’s eyes opened. Killian held me back with some kind of magic. Dark magic. I think…” Belle hesitates.

“It’s okay,” Emma says. “You can talk to us.” Zelena nods, her thumb rubbing against Belle’s shoulder in comfort.

The brunette nods back. “I think Killian is a Dark One too.”

“Is that even possible?” Emma asks. It’s what she would have guessed too, but it didn’t seem like the kind of thing that could have happened. There was only one dagger after all. But then again…

“Maybe not here, but we were in the Realm of Possibilities, after all,” Zelena points out. Belle’s eyes widen. “I’m sure there were several Dark Ones there, which would have given him the opportunity to find another dagger.”

“If that’s even our Killian at all…”

Zelena makes an exaggerated gagging noise. “Never say that again.”

“You know what I mean. What if there was a Dark Hook in the realm and he just came back instead of the Killian from this world? How would we know?”

Zelena presses her lips together before she breaks Emma’s gaze. This feels like defeat more and more every second.. 

“I might have an idea,” Belle says slowly, unsure. “I’m not sure what’s out there, but if we could find out any information on the realm, that would be a good start. Just tell me everything you remember.”

“Oh,” Zelena laughs. “We don’t remember anything except that it’s called the Realm of Possibilities. We saw a Regina that was from a world where her dark curse wasn’t broken because she put Emma in a coma.”

“That’s it?”

“Yeah, and the area we were in looked like the Enchanted Forest.”

“Except there weren’t animals,” Emma comments. Zelena gives her a curious look. “Not that I saw. It was really quiet. And uh, I saw another Regina, but I’m not sure which one it was. And there was a teenage version of me that really sucked. She made fun of me because I was  _ linear  _ and referenced that there were more of us. The other Regina did too, kind of. She said she had her own Emma… whatever that means.” Zelena snorts.

“Okay,” Belle nods. “This doesn’t sound like anything I’ve read about before, but I’ll see what I can find.” She pulls away from Zelena, standing on her own and moving towards a chest in the corner of Gold’s shop. “Rumple has some books in here that he’s kept private. I never asked why, but this might be the time to make use of them.”

“Great,” Emma says, walking to the chest to open it, but the top won’t budge. She’s put a good two minutes of effort in before Belle finally stops her.

“You can’t open it.”

Panting, Emma looks up at her. “You couldn’t have told me that earlier?” Belle offers an apologetic smile. “And why can’t I?”

“It’s sealed with blood magic.”

The blonde groans, dropping to the floor and leaning back against the chest. “Belle! You really need to prioritize the information you share. The books are useless to us in a chest we can’t even open. We don’t know where Rumple is, Neal is dead, and I’m pretty sure neither of them have blood samples just lying around or whatever we would need.” Zelena snorts at her again. “Can you cut it out?”

“Only when you stop being an idiot.”

Emma frowns. “Regina always calls me that,” she mumbles.

“Because it’s true. I mean, she’s also fond of teasing you, but that’s beside the point. I actually believe you’re an idiot, especially right now.”

“You need to fetch Henry.

Emma’s eyes widen, “No way! I have him at the loft with my mom. It’s not safe here.” She receives no response to that other than blank stares, Zelena’s being ruder than Belle’s, but both irritate Emma. “What?” 

“We need him to open the chest…”

“Oh.”

“Did you forget who his father was?” Not bothering to answer, Emma poofs from the shop and into the loft. Her mother jumps in surprise and curses, much to Emma’s surprise. Henry chuckles.

“Hey, Ma. Any luck?”

“Not yet,” Emma sighs. “Gold’s missing, but Belle’s going to look through his private book collection for information on the Realm of Possibilities. We need you to open his chest.”

“Blood magic?” Henry immediately asks.

“Glad you got your mom’s brains,” the blonde mumbles. “Come on. We’re gonna poof, okay?” Henry grins excitedly as he takes his mother’s hand. “BRB,” Emma says to mary margaret before the two disappear from the room.

Henry lands safely next to the trunk, but Emma isn’t so lucky, and she trips over it the second her feet are on solid surface.

Zelena snorts. Again.

It’s easy enough. They transport the chest to the station, where Emma and Zelena work together to build a protective shield of magic so that Regina and Killian can’t get in. Henry opens the chest like it’s nothing. (“ _ I just loosened it up for you _ ,” Emma says, even though everyone knows that’s not what happened), and Belle starts on research while Henry begs to help out. 

“The more pairs of eyes, the better,” Zelena shrugs, and the blonde groans. 

“Fine. But only because there’s a protection spell. And I’m calling mary margaret to keep an eye on you. And Ruby,” Emma adds. “You know what, Robin too. And David when he gets back. They can all research too if they want, but I’m not taking any chances.”

“Do you really think she would hurt me?” Henry asks, his brow furrowed, lips tilted downward.

Emma lets out a breath before she takes a knee in front of the chair Henry’s claimed for research. “I don’t think any version of her would ever hurt you,” Emma responds honestly. “But even though I believe that, I don’t want to take any chances. Especially not when Killian might be a Dark One as well.”

“Is that something we should be researching? Two Dark Ones?”

The blonde chuckles as she ruffles his hair, “You’re smart.” She stands back and turns to Zelena, waiting for her by the door. She nods before redirecting her attention to her son. “I’m gonna take care of something, alright? Everyone else will be over here soon, so I need you to help Belle hold down the fort.”

Henry nods. “Hey, so are we still calling this Operation Soulmate?”

The word leaves a pang echoing through Emma’s chest, but she forces a smile. “Sure. It’s about saving Regina, after all. I promised her.”

She can tell Henry believes her more than she believes herself, but she gives him the most genuine and encouraging smile she can before following Zelena out of the station.

“Go somewhere unsuspecting,” Emma tells her. “Wait for my signal, and when I tell you, go to the vault. But make sure you’re quick about it. I don’t know how well this is going to go or how long I can distract her for.”

“Oh, I’m sure you’ll have no problem if you just seduce her. That could give me all night.”

“Zelena!” The redhead shrugs, not looking the least bit apologetic. “I’m not gonna do that. It would be like… taking advantage. Besides, there’s no way that would even work.”

“Your loss,” Zelena shrugs. “Text me when you’re ready,” she says before disappearing in her own cloud of green smoke.

Emma has no idea where Regina is, but she decides that Granny’s might be a good place to distract her. It’s public, so there are people there if something goes wrong. It’s not as awkward as say… at the mayor mansion or city hall, but it’s more intimate than just being in the middle of the street.

She calls her mom on the way over, telling her to head to the sheriff’s station and to inform David on the situation, and sends Zelena a text as soon as she walks into Granny’s. 

_ five minutes. _

It’s enough time for her to greet Granny and everyone who’s in the diner, which turns out isn’t many people. “Most of them are at home trying to stay out of Regina’s way,” the older woman explains, following it up with a shrug, “But you know me, Granny’s doesn’t close for anything.”

Emma laughs. It’s a good thing everyone hiding from Regina isn’t still here.

“Can I get you anything?”

“Oh, no, I’m fine. I’m, uh… just here to summon Regina in the back hallway. No big deal. I’ll stay out of the way.”

Granny stares at her for a moment long enough that Emma’s worried the woman is going to get angry or upset with her for summoning a Dark One in her restaurant, but she’s surprised when instead of that, Granny asks, “Are you going to need a room?”

“What!? No! No no no it’s not like  _ that _ , I’m just--”

“Sure,” Granny responds, laced with sarcasm. “If you don’t use it just bring the key back to me and I won’t charge you. Just remember the additional cleaning fee though if you decided to get…”

“Messy?”

“Kinky,” Granny corrects, tossing a key in Emma’s direction. She thinks about giving it back, but she doesn’t have the time for another one of these conversations, not that she’d be able to handle it anyway.

“Thanks,” she mumbles before ducking around the corner. She looks to make sure no one’s followed her back and she’s away from Granny’s peering eyes before taking a deep breath and clearing her throat. She hopes the rules she knows for summoning a Dark One apply to Regina as well.

Another deep breath, and then: “Regina Mills. Regina Mills. Regina Mills.”

It’s only moments later that the woman appears right in front of Emma in the middle of the hallway, her back to the blonde. Emma can’t help the way she sucks in a breath at the sight, but she doubts Regina hears it, her heeled boots scuffing against the floor as she turns with a smirk. 

“Em-ma.”

“Regina,” she nods back in greeting, and is surprised when Regina takes a bold step forward, using her fingertips against Emma’s sternum to push her gently back into the wall.

“What can I do for you?”

Emma can feel her heart pounding, and she’s sure Regina can too, as the woman moves as close as possible to her before stopping, her palm coming to rest flat against her chest. She expected Regina to instigate something that Emma could just roll with until she no longer needed to distract her, but instead, here she is, helpless to the woman pinning her to the wall, silently waiting for Emma to say something important.

Of course she can’t think of a single thing.

She’s getting a little panicked, worried that Regina’s going to get impatient and disappear back to wherever she came from or directly into her vault. The woman’s dark gaze on her isn’t helping.

“What has you so nervous, Miss Swan?”

“Oh, uh…” Emma stutters, not sure exactly what to say, not that she has an answer to the woman’s question.

“Is it the outfit?” Regina winks, and Emma immediately looks away until she feels a finger tucked under her chin, inching her face back to face the Dark One. A dark brow arches in challenge, and Emma swats Regina’s hand away. 

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

If her words upset, Regina, it doesn’t show, but the blonde feels bad nonetheless. She figures she’s nervous because Zelena’s sneaking around the vault of the now Dark One, and Emma doesn’t like all this pressure on her, but now that Regina’s here in front of her, she’s pretty sure the woman has a point about that outfit. Or those lips…

Emma doesn’t know how it happens exactly, but suddenly their positions are reversed and she has Regina pinned up against the wall, her hands on the woman’s waist, a knee between her legs, and she only has a moment to register the shock on Regina’s face before their lips meet.

_ Maybe Granny had a point _ , Emma couldn’t help but think as she traced her tongue along Regina’s lips and ran her hands down the woman’s waist to her ass. One of Regina’s hands tugged hard on her hair, and Emma moaned into her mouth before she was suddenly pushed back.

For a beat, Regina looks somewhere between stunned and offended, but it isn’t long before her lips quirk up. “Miss Swan,” she starts with a laugh, “You know true love’s kiss can’t take the darkness out of someone or else Rumple wouldn’t have been who he was for so long. Besides,” she adds with a wink. “You already tried that once.”

“I…  _ what? _ ” 

Regina just smirks. “So. Tell me, Emma. Why am I here?”

She’s back to square one, but she might as well get some answers while she’s here so instead of stuttering again, she just blurts out, “Where is Gold, anyway?”

“Why do you think I would tell you that?”

Emma offers her a feeble shrug. “I figured it was worth a try?”

“Try again,” Regina sneers.

“Okay, so there’s two Dark Ones, and we came from the Realm of Possibilities. I don’t know what happened there, but I have a theory that Dark One Killian caught a ride back to Storybrooke and my Killian got left behind--”

“ _ Your _ Killian?” Regina’s face darkens at Emma’s choice of words, and her nostrils flare as she takes a step away from the blonde. Given the fact that they’re working on the same side, Emma hadn’t expected Regina to go off like this. Sure, her wording wasn’t great, but…

“Woah,” Emma laughs, “You know what I mean. Just like you’re  _ my _ Regina and the other ones weren’t,” she tries to explain, but it only seems to make Regina even more bothered. “Okay, so we don’t have to talk about that. I’ve just been trying to figure out why there are two Dark Ones. Or rather, how…”

“Did you ever consider that your memories were gone for a reason?”

“I just--”

“You just what? Thought you could kiss me and everything would be okay? That you could talk to me like we’re still  _ friends _ and that I would tell you all my secrets? That you have some kind of  _ claim _ to Killian? He isn’t even your soulmate.” Hearing the word leave the brunette’s mouth makes Emma’s heart stutter in her chest. She sucks in a breath and the woman turns away from her, and if Emma didn’t know any better, she’d say her expression is pained

“Regina, I--”

“We’re done here.” With a puff of smoke, Regina disappears, her face turned away from Emma as she goes. The blonde wastes no time in pulling out her phone. 

_ times up. _

In seconds, Zelena appears in front of her, and Emma’s whole body sags with relief. “She left with no warning. I was worried she would go straight to the vault and like… incinerate you or something.”

The redhead snorts. “You think so little of me,” she mutters before slowly reaching her fingers to Emma’s face, wiping just at the corner of her mouth. “Emma Swan, you sly dog.”

“What?”

Zelena wipes her fingers on Emma’s shoulder. “You tried to seduce her, didn’t you?”

“No, I--”

“Clearly you need to learn a few tricks because I hardly had any time to look around before she came back.” Emma blinks, about to ask the obvious when Zelena responds before she can. “She showed up at the end, but she didn’t see me. I didn’t find anything.”

“I didn’t learn anything new either,” Emma mumbles. “Except that we’ve apparently kissed before? I don’t know if I believe her though.” The two women walk around the corner to leave through the front door of the diner, and Granny looks up at them, looking surprised.

“I don’t want to know,” she says with a shake of her head.

Emma’s eyes go widen, “No! It’s not--”

But Granny starts humming, her hands raised in surrender as she goes into the kitchen. Emma groans and drops the unused room key on the counter. “I don’t want to know either,“ Zelena comments.

**xxx**

_ Emma hears a shriek and she runs through the trees, jumping over roots to reach the source of the noise. She recognizes the voice as Regina’s, even though she didn’t say anything. The woman in front of her in the clearing blinks at her, confused and alarmed, and Emma squints. _

_ “Wait I’ve seen you!” _

_ “Um, yeah?” Regina says. _

_ “You’re wearing my mom’s clothes!” _

_ Regina scoffs, “Please, Bandit Snow’s clothes are way rattier than mine.”  _

_ “You screamed,” Emma blurts, and after she does, there’s another sound from behind her. Green eyes widen as she sees the Evil Queen walking towards them. Emma’s only dealt with her the one time, but she knows this won’t be pleasant, even if the woman in front of her looks damn good. “Get behind me!” Emma shouts, pushing Bandit Regina behind her.  _

_ She frowns when both Regina’s start laughing, their amusement only escalating the more defensive Emma gets. “You’re more idiotic than my girlfriend,” the Evil Queen snickers. _

_ “Wait, what?” _

Emma sits up in bed so fast she feels dizzy.

At first she doesn’t remember dreaming at all, but as she makes her way to the kitchen for a glass of water, it all comes back to her. “Huh,” she comments out loud, wondering where  _ that _ came from. She must be thinking too much about the Realm of Possibilities, or Regina in sexy leather, or both.

She shakes her head, dismissing how real the ridiculous dream felt and decides she might as well try to get more sleep.

In the morning, she has three missed calls from David, even though it’s only seven o’clock, and she grumbles to herself as she gets up and prepares for the day, stopping at Granny’s to pick up coffee for her father and herself before heading over to the Sheriff’s station. 

For the most part, everyone had been unsuccessful in finding anything, mostly because no one was really sure exactly what they were looking for. But today, David seemed to be leading the search for conspiracy confirmations, or whatever crazy thoughts he had. 

“Okay, so I was looking up things about Dark Ones when they become Dark Ones, and there’s a big deal about location or something. Like when a Dark One becomes a Dark One, they usually go somewhere relevant,” David explains.

Emma blinks at him. “Relevant to what?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” her father shrugs. “To them? To darkness? To their intentions? Probably something like that. I think it depends on the person.”

“And Regina?”

“I haven’t gotten that far yet.”

Emma groans into her hand. “This was the cause of all those missed calls? Maybe next time you should wait for something actually important.”

Her father just shrugs.

Without anyone to ask for help, everyone is stuck to reading, for the most part, but Emma lets everyone else do the boring work while she sits at her desk with a legal pad, scribbling down other ways to find information, including but not limited to, trying to seduce Regina again, or having someone do the same to Killian. She’s a little more worried about finding volunteers for that one, but she’s not going to give up.

The other list she makes is a list of theories. She starts with Dark One Killian not being the Killian from their world (she finally words it properly this time), and she follows that up with darkness being split in half, Regina completely faking it and secretly being a different Regina, and finally, the far fetched theory that none of this is real and they’re living in a dream within a dream just like in that movie  _ Inception _ . 

Henry thinks she’s crazy, but Emma thinks she could be onto something, whether the pop culture reference stands true or not.

Besides, it takes her a week to complete that list, and by the time she has it, everyone else has made a sizeable pile of books that are likely useless to them as well as made the executive decision that no one wants to try seducing Killian, and the only one who has a chance good enough that would get them information is Emma.

Of course, she refuses.

“We just won’t get information from him then, unless Robin wants to man up…?” No one has ever shaken their head so many times in a row. 

**xxx**

_ Killian grins ear to ear, and Emma rolls her eyes before she turns to see herself walking over to them. _

Wait, what?

_ This Emma is skinnier than her, but not in a good way, and she looks like she’s dying almost? She gives Emma a feeble smile and a “hi” smaller than Emma’s shyest greeting, and Killian wraps an arm around her like it was meant to be there. _

_ “Your loss,” he tells Emma, kissing the weaker Emma’s cheek. _

_ To Emma’s horror, she turns to kiss him back. _

_ On the lips. _

_ Emma wretches, and the other Emma looks at her, concerned. “Are you okay?” _

_ “Are  _ you? _ ” _

_ The other Emma doesn’t understand. _

This time when she wakes up, she’s actually nauseous, and there’s no way she’s going back to sleep now. Is there actually a version of her like that somewhere? Someone actually willing to reciprocate the pirate’s affections?  _ Emma Jones _ , Emma scowls. Of course no one can be with Killian and be happy and healthy.

It's just like those charts.  _ You can only pick two of four: a social life, an education, a job, or sleep _ . Only this time it’s Killian vs your physical, mental, and emotional health.

He hasn’t done anything wrong that she knows of, but her dreamed up versions of his violation annoy her, and even if he has nothing to do with her creepy dreams, she really wants to take her irritation out on him.

So instead of going back to sleep, she gets dressed and goes down to the docks and poofs herself onto his boat. He’s awake, of course, because he’s a Dark One and never sleeps or something like that, and he smirks when he sees her.

“Oh look, someone's finally chosen the right Dark One.”

“I’m not here for  _ you _ .”

“Then what are you here for? The scenery?” he asks, gesturing to the boat right next to his.

“Answers,” Emma firmly corrects.

“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather have me? I can be good for you, you know.” The way he says it seems like something she would believe if she were to be the frail Emma from her dream, but as it happens, she  _ isn’t _ that Emma.

“Tell me about the soulmate stuff.”

Killian laughs, shaking his head. “It’s not a good story. It could have been, but…” he shrugs, casually swirling his hand, creating his red smoke which leaves behind a flask. He offers it first to Emma, and she doesn’t even justify the offer with a response. “Anyway, you were both mine and Regina’s soulmate, according to the pixie dust, and it all came down to one major decision.”

“The sacrifice…”

“Yeah,” Killian scowls. “But you wouldn’t save her. Things could have been so different…”

Emma snorts. “I’m still going to save her.”

“It’s too late for me, unless I can convince you otherwise.” 

“Yeah, good luck,” Emma replies sarcastically. 

“Is that a challenge?”

“You disgust me,” Emma says as she turns to leave, but he magics himself right in her way to stop her. She shoves him, but he hardly budges as he glares down at her. “Fuck off.”

“Emma, I could still be the man for you. You just have to let me.”

She shoves again, even harder this time. “Why do you keep insisting on something I obviously have no interest in? Besides, even if you weren’t the Dark One, you’re not my soulmate anymore. That reality never existed. I never let it.”

That pisses him off, and Emma almost doesn’t care except that it’s dark outside, there’s no one around, and Hook is advancing on her, looking like he would do anything to get what he wanted, and Emma doesn’t have a clear way out. Her original plan was to poof away, same as she had gotten here, but he’s trapping her on the boat with his dark magic somehow.

She laughs a little and tries to act like this situation isn’t getting to her, but everything about it is making her skin crawl. The more he corners her, the more she feels like the weak Emma from her dream who was too afraid to fight back.

Just when her back hits the wall, there’s a cloud of purple smoke behind Killian, and Emma hardly has time to gasp before Regina’s hand is curled around Hook’s neck, lifting him into the air. “We’re not going to hurt her,” she says. “If you touch her, I will not hesitate to throw you off this boat, or better yet, from the clock tower.”

He growls but nods with reluctant compliance, and Regina drops him on the spot.

“We’ll discuss this later,” she says before her fingers slip into Emma’s and they disappear with more purple smoke.

Emma doesn’t open her eyes until she feels solid ground beneath her feet, and when she does, she sees that they’re right outside the loft. The soft hand that was in Emma’s a moment ago is no longer there, and she figures that Regina moved on the second she left the blonde outside the door. But then she hears movement next to her and she turns to see Regina watching her carefully.

“Thanks,” Emma says, offering the brunette a soft smile. 

Regina doesn’t return it, though her face softens nearly imperceptibly. 

“Don’t read too much into it,” she says, looking anywhere but at Emma. For a moment they both stand there, and all Emma can wonder is what’s going on in Regina’s mind. She looks so much like the Regina she knew, the Regina untainted by darkness, that Emma has to actively stop herself from reaching out and brushing a strand of hair behind the woman’s ear, running her fingers down her arm, or pulling her in for another kiss…

But instead, Regina’s face changes back to that hard shell she’s expressed lately, and her eyes meet Emma’s for one final second before the space is occupied once more with purple smoke, and then nothing.

**xxx**

_ Emma Jones is glaring at Emma Swan. _

_ Emma Swan glares back, sure she’s winning this contest, even when the more frail of the two lets out a weak attempt at a growl. Emma snorts.  _

_ “What was that?” _

_ The only response she gets is a darker glare that doesn’t become any more intimidating. _

_ “Okay, so you clearly don’t like me. I don’t understand. I just wanted to help you…” _

_ “By hurting Killian?” Emma Jones asks, incredulous. “Your logic doesn’t make any sense. You shouldn’t have kicked him. You’ve hurt him enough as it is.” _

_ Emma laughs, a thought bubble over her head with the image of Killian doubled over in pain like a middle school boy in the wrong place at the wrong time in a game of kickball. Emma Jones tries to growl again before she gets close enough to give Emma a hard shove. _

_ It’s enough to knock her to the ground, and Emma gasps both in surprise and from the wind being knocked right out of her. “You were capable of choosing a life with Killian, and you didn’t do it. You’ve trapped me here forever,” she shouts. “I’ll find a way to be with him! I love him!” _

These dreams are getting old. 

This one is worse than the last, and she can almost feel where she’d pushed herself to the ground. She shudders at the whole scenario, grateful that it wasn’t something she had to live out, and she heads downstairs as quietly as she can, careful not to wake her parents. 

She’s surprised to see Henry standing at the island. He gives her a smile and pours her a glass of water, ready to hand it to her as soon as she reaches him.

“Hey, Ma,” he whispers. “Couldn’t sleep?” 

She shakes her head. “Bad dream.”

“You’ve been having a lot of those lately, haven’t you? Do you think they mean anything?”

“No way,” she snorts. “They’re all insane.”

“Well, there was this book I saw the other day that talked about implanting memories into dreams. It’s common when memory loss is involved, as well as cross-realm travelling, so I thought, maybe…” he trails off with a shrug.

“Hmm,” Emma frowns. “I don't know. Have you had any weird dreams lately.”

“No,” he admits. “Sometimes I wish I did. Then I could help out more. I’m worried about mom.”

“Me too, kid.”


	5. Chapter 5

_ Emma’s never seen Regina so young, until this moment, looking at her across a field, and she can’t help but gasp at the sight. She’s walking over there without considering that the woman might not want to be bothered, but she just can’t help herself. _

_ The younger Regina is dressed in a powder blue, talking sweetly to a horse, and before she sees Emma, a man walks up to her from the stables. They kiss. _

That must be Daniel _ , Emma thinks, still walking.  _

_ She steps on a twig and both Regina and Daniel turn to look at her with a smile. The blonde is suddenly nervous that they won’t want her there, that Daniel will hate her for being Regina’s current soulmate, but to her surprise, he pulls her into a big hug. _

_ “Emma!” he grins, and the blonde frowns a little at the turn of events, despite it being so positive. _

_ “Hey?” _

_ “How’s my girl doing?” Daniel asks, and Emma grows more confused. He’s not asking about  _ her _ , she knows that much, so she glances at the younger, anxiously awaiting the answer. “Or,  _ yours _ , I should say, in this case.” he corrects. _

_ Emma blinks at him before finding her voice. “She’s, uh, the Dark One.”  _

**xxx**

_ There’s a strange cabin, and Emma finds herself walking inside, but she can’t quite remember what the point was to begin with. _

_ “DIE PIGEON!” she hears as soon as she steps in, not bothering to knock. She ducks in time to avoid a broom to the face, but she’s more concerned about this random woman’s insane attempts to keep out intruders than she is for her safety in this strange location. _

_ “Woah!” Emma shouts, “You need a lesson or two in self defense,” she says, still ducked close to the floor, her hand outstretched. “Take it from me. I’m a sheriff!” _

_ “You!” the woman shouts, swinging directly for Emma. The blonde falls to the ground as the broom hits her leg a few times in succession. Emma uses her hand as cover. “You’re not my daughter! I told all of you to back off unless you’re here to exterminate these pests!” _

_ “What?!” Emma screeches, snatching the broom by the business end and using it as her own weapon of defense as she stands and comes face to face with her own mother, who just denied the existence of her very real child. “You’re lucky I was raised an orphan or you might’ve just pissed me off!”  _

_ Her mother, or some other version of her frowns. “Sorry?” she tries. “I just wanted to kill that pigeon.” _

_ Emma’s not sure what to say to that. _

_ The bird sings. _

**xxx**

When Emma wakes up to the sound of birds chirping outside the window the next morning, her mind is still racing, the dreams she’d just had still vivid in her mind. Unlike the last few times, she remembered  _ two _ . Was that significant? Had she been having multiple dreams this whole time but just couldn’t remember them?

Regardless, she knows one thing for certain. She hadn’t had dreams like this before they visited the Realm of Possibilities, and given everything she’d experienced over the past few years, the idea that the dreams could actually be memories isn’t too far fetched. Even so, she decides it’s best to keep them to herself. It’s more likely that they’re just really insane dreams occurring as a side effect to cross-realm travels and whatever unexplainable phenomena happened while there. 

Really, everyone has enough on their plate. Literally, in some cases, Emma thinks as she watches Ruby walk around the counter to set a plate full of food in front of Robin. It’s enough to feed at least two, and Emma rolls her eyes. 

“He’s still attempting to try everything on the menu,” Ruby explains. “Honestly, I can’t blame him. Dumpster diving in the Enchanted Forest? Not the most fun thing to do.”

Emma scoffs, “He was a  _ thief _ , not a dumpster diver.” Ruby shrugs as she wipes down the counter next to Emma. “And anyway, you guys didn’t even  _ have _ dumpsters.”

“Whatever. There’s probably a dumpster diving version of him in the Realm of Possibilities. I could see it.” The comment is made as a joke, but the laughter dies out fast. Bringing up the realm only led to more serious discussions about everything they hadn’t yet figured out. 

For some, namely Emma’s parents, the conversation just spiralled into creating theories and frantic researching—including google searches and interrogations. For people like Robin, it was generic commentary:  _ I can’t believe that actually happened. Such a wild thought. I wonder what we missed.  _ Zelena had started critiquing the abilities Regina and Hook now possessed, as well as their outfits and style choices. But when it came to Ruby, she didn’t have much to say on the matter, instead growing unusually quiet and distracting herself with any menial task around the diner. 

“We’re going to figure it out,” Emma offers, watching Ruby recount the sugars in the line of caddies in front of her. The taller woman says nothing in response and hardly reacts at all. She finishes her sugar recount and tops off the water that Emma’s hardly touched. 

“I don’t know how you can be so casual about it,” Ruby suddenly says, her voice low. “Everyone is, for the most part other than your parents. You know, Granny makes jokes, and Robin eats his weight in food. The town just went back to the way it was before when they all acted afraid of Regina only less somehow.” She finally looks up at Emma. “It’s weird, yeah, don’t get me wrong. But you’re her  _ soulmate _ , and you had to watch her be taken? How do you even get any sleep with that on your mind? If it were me, I wouldn’t be able to stop thinking about it long enough to close my eyes.”

Emma chuckles once, unamused. “Honestly I haven’t been sleeping that great. Not since we got back, and I doubt I slept that great in the realm either.”

“So then what?” Ruby asks, and Emma doesn’t need her to clarify.

“Something feels different—other than the obvious. I know I haven’t always been the biggest believer in soulmates, but now that this is happening, I just feel a little empty. I don’t know how to explain it without sounding like an idiot. I almost wonder…” she trails off, suddenly not wanting to think about it. It was a theory she’d considered a while back, but dismissed before she could really discuss it with anyone.

Ruby pours her a shot, sliding it to Emma before pouring a second for herself. “Alright, Swan, I’m gonna need you to spill. So drink up.”

The two of them knock back the clear liquid and Emma grimaces immediately. “Tequila? Ruby, it’s like ten in the morning. What are you trying to accomplish?” The brunette doesn’t answer, her eyes doing the work for her. Emma groans. Ruby isn’t messing around today. “ _ Fine _ ,” she groans. “I was wondering if the Regina that’s here with us now is really the right one. Like, what if we brought back an alternate. Or, I mean, an alternate brought  _ us _ back,” Emma corrects.

Ruby frowns, pouring a second shot for each of them. Emma waits as the woman takes it without waiting for Emma. “You think this because she doesn’t feel like your soulmate anymore?”

“Can I at least get a lime or—” Ruby gives her a look an Emma knocks back the second shot, moving straight into her explanation as a distraction from the taste. “Yeah?” she starts. “I mean—no, not exactly. It’s like she’s just…unfamiliar. And I know that of  _ course  _ she is, because being the Dark One changes a person, but it’s something bigger than that. A feeling I have. It’s like…a broken connection, or a loose wire. That’s the best way I can explain it.”

Ruby nods slowly, taking in the idea. “I know we don’t remember much about the Realm of Possibilities, but I’m not sure if any of them could leave. From the few ‘alternates’ we knew about, it mostly just seemed like versions of us that never got to exist. That realm is their only context. Them being here would probably be like, a paradox or something.”

“Unless they were the only version of someone that came back. Wouldn’t their reality become the one that happened?”

Ruby shrugs but the creases in her forehead deepen. “I think we would know. It would alter the timeline or something, wouldn’t you think?  _ Linear _ , remember?” Ruby asks, recounting Teen Emma’s insult. “Wouldn’t it be something like the time curse Zelena did last year? Marion’s life was spared and everything blew up?”

“I guess, but that was different. I don’t know if we have enough information to say for sure. It’s a whole realm, existing outside of time, maybe? But regardless, we know that time passed while we were gone.”

Ruby slumps over the counter just slightly in defeat. “Yeah, we wouldn’t be able to really know without our memories. It’s a catch-22.” Emma nods as she drinks her water. She’s going to need it if this conversation keeps up, she thinks as she eyes the bottle of tequila next to Ruby, still not put away. The brunette’s eyes suddenly widen, and Emma jumps. “You don’t think anyone else is an alternate do you?”

“Maybe Hook,” Emma answers around the straw still in her mouth.

“No, no,” Ruby shuts her down immediately. “I mean someone we wouldn’t expect. And anyway, I think that’s actually him. No alternate can be as bad as ours, you know? If he’s spent his whole life making the worst possible choices, that would mean all other Hook’s would be at least a little better off.”

“You’re right,” Emma laughs. “I guess that would make anyone else hard to guess though, since no one’s lives are that drastic.”

“Your mom…” 

“Touche.” Emma snorts. “But seriously, Ruby, if she were a secret alternate, she would tell us herself. Maybe we’re all the right people. It’s not like anyone is acting  _ that _ suspicious. And for the most part, everyone is helping get to the bottom of this whole thing, If any of us were alternates, I think we’d be missing more than just our memories.”

Ruby nods. “Yeah. Has anyone found anything yet? Information? Gold?”

“No,” Emma sighs. “But you’ll be the first to know if we do.”

“Same goes for you. Not that I’m really looking for anything—David seems to be covering all the bases, and other than trying to literally  _ smell out _ Gold’s location, which hasn’t led me anywhere by the way, there isn’t much I can do.”

“Just keep pouring shots, Ruby. You know how people talk in here…”

“Oh yeah?” Ruby grins. “You want another?”

“Nooo,” Emma laughs. “Not  _ me _ . Other people. Use your supersonic wolf hearing for good.”

“It’s not  _ supersonic _ , Emma, don’t be ridiculous. But whatever, you know I will.” She pats the back pocket of her jeans where she keeps her phone. “I’ve got you on speed dial.”

“You’re the best, Rubes,” Emma says as she slides off the bar stool. “I’m gonna go see if David needs any help at the station, but I’ll see you later, okay?”

She waves as she leaves the diner, her thoughts automatically going to Regina. Maybe things just feel  _ empty _ because the darkness is filling the space where their soulmate connection usually is. Could it work that way? Dark One magic and soulmate magic  _ are _ two different forms of magic, after all. Maybe there just isn’t enough room for them both to be present at all times?

Even if she can’t know for sure, she wants to remain hopeful that the connection still exists. It  _ had to _ , right? The entire reason Regina became the Dark One—why Emma let it happen—was so that they would be tethered together as soulmates, rather than Emma and Killian. No other option could exist in Emma’s mind. 

This couldn’t be happening for nothing, and she will do everything she can to make sure she doesn’t lose Regina in any capacity.

**xxx**

_ She was in a castle. Emma knew that much. _

_ It didn’t look familiar to her, but then again, that wasn’t very surprising. The only castle she actually  _ knew _ was the one that her parents had lived in but had later become Regina’s. Or were they different castles? She couldn’t remember. Whatever the case, she was sure she was somewhere else.  _

_ “What are you doing,  _ peasant _ ?”  _

_ The voice came from behind her, sharp enough to make Emma jump.  _

_ “Jesus, Zelena!” Emma barked as she turned. “I know you don’t like me that much, but—” She stopped speaking as soon as she caught a glimpse of the redhead, dressed in what looked like Regina’s Evil Queen outfits, her skin a disturbing shade of green. _

_ “That’s  _ Queen  _ Zelena to you,” she sneered. _

_ Emma could only gape. _

_ “Close that ugly trap before you catch flies.” _

_ “ _ How? _ ” Emma sputtered. Zelena rolled her eyes and simply waved her hand and Emma’s mouth closed with a snap. When Emma opened it again moments later, Zelena groaned. “What I meant was,  _ how _ are you the Queen? I thought Regina was—”  _

_ “How dare you speak that name to me. You know that witch was abandoned by my mother at birth. She doesn’t deserve what I have.” _

_ Emma frowned. “Wait, but—” _

_ The last thing Emma heard before she disappeared at the flick of the wrist was Zelena’s derisive scoff. _

**xxx**

_ “Darling, it’s time to wake up.” _

_ The soft voice caused Emma’s eyes to flutter open. She recognized the voice, but something seemed off about it. “Hmm,” she mumbled against a satin pillow as she turned against it. Emma had never been a fan of mornings, no matter what realm she was in. _

Realm _ . _

_ The word triggered her, and she sat up suddenly, her eyes wide, taking in the scene around her. She was in another castle—her  _ parent’s _ castle. She recognized it from her adventure back in time. The room that was once her nursery, adapted now for an older child. _

_ “Mom?” Emma asked, becoming even more alarmed when she heard how young her voice sounded. Suddenly nothing felt familiar anymore. _

_ “Sweetie? What’s wrong?” Snow asked, a hand coming to Emma’s forehead as if worried her daughter is sick. “Do you want me to call off your ball?” _

_ Emma snorts. “Actually, yeah. What do I need a ball for anyway?” She was annoyed at the pitch of her voice. Too high and too juvenile. _

_ “For your engagement, silly,” her mother said, and Emma almost choked. “To Regina’s son!” _

_ Emma really did choke then. _

_ “His name is Kevin!” are the last words she heard before everything went dark. _

**xxx**

_ “What kind of man do you want to be?”  _

_ She knew the words were leaving her mouth, even if she wasn’t forming them herself. It almost felt like an out-of-body experience, the way she stood, bent over to achieve what was almost eye level with a young boy in front of her. The kid looked equal parts terrified and determined, but Emma couldn’t figure out  _ why _ he would be afraid of her or  _ why  _ she would care what kind of man this kid would become. It was  _ his _ life after all. _

_ When he didn’t answer her question, she straightened back out, glaring down at the boy. “What’s your name, son?” she asked, her voice unusually gruff. _

_ “K-Killian.” _

Well, fuck _ . _

_ “What kind of man do you want to be?” she found herself asking again. She cared a little more about the answer this time, almost afraid he would expose himself as a monster, even in child form. _

_ He looked torn for a moment before finally telling her, “I don’t know  _ exactly,”  _ he started, “I just know I want to be _ good _ .” _

**xxx**

When Emma wakes up the next morning, she’s crying. It’s soundless and wet and  _ confusing _ . She’d gotten so used to ridiculous dreams with alter egos that she hadn’t even considered having dreams with such heavy content, and especially not dreams with that  _ fucking _ pirate. 

For a while, she had tolerated him, if only slightly, but ever since  _ the soulmate dilemma _ and  _ the sacrifice _ and everything since, she’d grown to loathe Hook and everything he represented. For  _ minutes _ after she’s been awake, the eyes of a young, innocent Killian are seared in her mind. He looked so  _ afraid _ , so innocent, in the way that children are before they learn how fucked up the world is. His desire to be  _ good _ couldn’t have been clearer.

Emma’s sure it would have been easier to know he was just as corrupt in his youth.

She lies in bed for a moment longer, her face buried under the covers until it suddenly occurs to her:  _ wasn’t he? _

How could she  _ know _ what kind of kid Hook was from a  _ dream _ ?

Because it  _ was  _ a dream. Right?

She throws the covers off of her, suddenly determined to talk to someone about this.  _ finally _ . Or at least to ask if anyone else has been having dreams since their visit. for all she knows, everyone else has been having them and they are the sole clue to unlocking their memories and figuring out how to help Regina.

So she asks.

She decides to start small. It isn’t something she’s keen to bring up with anyone too close to her, knowing that Henry and her parents will worry, so she asks Robin first. Then Zelena. 

Neither of them have the faintest idea what she’s talking about.

Robin claims he hasn’t dreamed since coming to the land without magic to begin with, and Zelena tells Emma that the last dream she remembers is from the night before the darkness took Regina. With that, she knows they are no use.

“Well?” Zelena asks her, almost impatient. “What are the dreams? You’re not going to tell me about them?”

“Uh…” Emma hesitates. It causes Zelena to scoff—taking Emma back to a memory, no,  _ a dream _ , she could have gone without thinking about for the rest of her life. She shakes her head and stands to leave Granny’s. “Maybe I’ll tell you about the next one.”

**xxx**

_ The moaning in her ear was vibrant and erotic—deep in a way that made Emma moan back and strong in a way she could feel in her spine as warm skin pushed against hers. Her eyes were closed as she revelled in the  _ sounds _ and the  _ feelings _ of this experience, somehow afraid that if she opened her eyes, it would come to an abrupt end. _

_ But it didn’t. _

_ Her eyes fluttered open and her world exploded into color, both literal and figurative, Regina’s lithe body bare above her as her fingers sped up between Emma’s legs, pressing themselves against and into all the right places, not stopping while the blonde’s chain of orgasms continued.  _

_ She only slowed when a whimper left Emma’s mouth. Regina’s tongue soothed the bruises she’d made against Emma’s throat with her mouth, and her free hand came up to release Emma’s hair from the tight bun it was in. _

_ “My Dark Swan,” the woman murmured against her neck. _

_ “My Queen,” Emma responded. _

**xxx**

_ She was in a bar, and it smelled like musky wood and beer. It was a smell that perfectly suited the area around her, and she immediately felt at peace, despite not knowing exactly where she is or how she got here. Regardless, she decided to sit and have a drink.  _

“Whiskey _ and coke,” she told the bartender, “because I don’t drink rum.”  _

_ “Sounds like there’s a story there,” the bartender chuckled. Her voice was low and seductive, and Emma recognized it immediately.  _

_ “Regina?” _

_ Another chuckle. “The name’s Roni. Didn’t you see the sign?” _

_ Shaking her head, Emma looked around for the sign. She didn’t see it, but she  _ did _ see a pride flag hanging from the wall. Regin— _ Roni _ winked at her. Emma’s jaw dropped. _

**xxx**

_ She must have passed out, Emma couldn’t help but think as her eyes opened once more. The last thing she remembered was… Regina lips on her neck? Or was she winking at her? Emma doubted she just  _ imagined _ the woman moaning beneath her, but maybe she had. _

_ She blinked. The walls around her are familiar in a way that makes her stomach drop.  _

_ She was in a dungeon. _

_ As if on cue, she heard footsteps pounding in the hallway, echoing louder the closer they got. The door swung open with a violent creak just before it slammed into the stone wall behind. Emma jumped. _

_ The lighting was dim, but it was just enough for Emma to make out the dark garment worn by the intruder, brushing against the floor as the woman turned. She recognized it from her adventure through the time portal, and even if she hadn’t, she  _ definitely _ recognized the style. Something about the fabric triggered another memory—the way the fabric tore in her hands as she desperately clawed her way closer to Regina. Were they married? Did she lose memories? Was this part of their role play? _

_ She rolled her eyes. “Regina, come on. Let me out. I don’t remember consenting to role play this intense. I mean, memory loss? Come on, we’ve had enough of that by now don’t you think.” _

_ The woman on the other side of the bars laughed, cold and sinister and Emma froze because it  _ isn’t _ Regina. “Prisoners don’t usually consent,” the voice said as the woman moved toward the light. “And this isn’t role play.” _

_ And thank  _ fuck _ it wasn’t, because the woman’s face was now visible in the light, and Emma gagged. It was her  _ mother. _ “Operation Mongoose,” Emma said before she threw up in the corner.  _

_ Dark Snow’s cackle echoed in the chamber. _

**xxx**

_ “Emma!” someone called, somehow both harsh and soft, and Emma mumbled into her pillow.  _

_ “Five more minutes, mom.” _

_ “Oh,” the same voice laughed, and Emma must have been tired if she mistook her wife for her mother. “Never call me that again.” Still on her stomach, Emma felt a gentle weight on her rear. Soft breasts brushed against her back. She was being straddled. She feels the breath against her ear before she heard the words, “You have no idea what I’m capable of.” _

_ Emma shuddered. “Oh?” she couldn’t help but ask, rolling over, too curious about how her morning is about to start out. She gasped when Regina’s eyes met hers, but the moment quickly ended when their bedroom door flung open, and a small Henry bounded across the room, leaping onto the bed. _

_ “Moms!” he squealed as Regina slid over to make room for him, ruffling his hair. Henry started jumping on the bed, and Regina smiled at Emma as she leaned back into the pillows.  _

_ “Get your son under control.” _

_ “ _ My _ son?” Emma questioned over Henry’s frantic giggles above them.  _

_ “ _ Our _ son,” Regina clarified, beaming as she leaned over towards her wife. Their lips met, and Emma felt like she was in paradise. _

**xxx**

_ Four dreams. _

_ Four. _

Though, she still isn’t sure she should even count that first one. Even if it is all she can think about—Regina’s nails scraping against her back, the queen’s breath hot against her ear as she hissed  _ faster faster fasterfasterfaster _ , and Emma’s own voice, raspy and hard, grunting in response:  _ fucking you isn’t a negotiation…my queen _ .

Emma hates how breathless it made her.

She resigns herself to not think about it too much.

She puts the wet dreams aside and focused on the dreams in general. Although she’s more skeptical about them being  _ memories _ (or, useful at all for that matter), she decides to ask her parents.

“Dreams?” her mother asks, her brow wrinkles of concern going from a zero to a ten as she asks. “What kind of dreams? You haven’t been fevering have you?”

“No,” Emma answers, gently pushing Mary Margaret’s hand away from her face as she does. “ _ Mom _ , look. This isn’t a big deal. I’m only asking because I wondered if they could be memories from the Realm of Possibilities. If they were, I figured other people might also be having them?”

The question changes everything.

“Oh, honey! You had me worried!” Mary Margaret says, still fussing over Emma, ushering into the nearest chair and snapping once. David is immediately pouring her a glass of water, and Emma can’t help but roll her eyes. “What kind of dreams?” her mom asks again. “Tell me about them.”

“Uh,” Emma hesitates. She really  _ would _ tell her mother about them, but all she can think about is the look on her own face, screaming with pleasure as Regina’s tongue traced the length of her— 

“Emma?”

She shakes her head, coming back to reality. “Sorry.”

“Was that another dream?” Emma frowns. “ _ Daydream? _ ” Snow corrects.

“No. I just got distracted,” Emma says, vaguely gesturing across the street and her mom looks disappointed there isn’t more to the story. The look reminds her of the  _ very  _ different versions of her mother she’d seen across all of her dreams. It’s possible that based on everyone else  _ alone _ they may be memories…but then again, she wasn’t always  _ herself _ in all the dreams. In some she was younger, or more powerful ( _ magically _ ). She shivers again just remembering the very  _ real _ , incredibly  _ visceral _ feelings that came with her first dream of the night.

“Emma!” her mother says again. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Emma answers, too fast. “I’ll find you if I figure anything else out.”

It’s her excuse to get as far away from the diner as possible. She’s hoping to run into anyone that  _ hasn’t _ been featured in one of them, so naturally, it’s just her luck that Regina appears right in front of her in a whirl of smoke. Emma almost runs into her, and she definitely trips as she tries not to.

Regina hums. “Well, well, Miss Swan. I certainly didn’t expect to be running into you today.”

“I could say the same about you,” Emma almost chokes. “What are you doing here?” The woman’s dark eyes stare, unblinking, almost as though she can’t believe Emma even asked her that. “Oh, right. You’re the Dark One.”

“Did you forget?” Regina asks, a humored smirk on her face. 

Emma blushes, smitten at the very sight of it. She doesn’t know what’s gotten into her.  _ Stupid dreams.  _ “How could I?”

“I could make you forget,” she says, and Emma nearly passes out at the insinuation. “I mean,” Regina shrugs. “It wouldn’t be the first time.”

The blonde’s breath comes out long and heavy as she realizes what Regina is really referring to. “Right,” she responds, still regaining control over her body. She’s avoiding looking at Regina, but when she looks back, the woman’s tongue is swiping across her red lips, and Emma has to look away again. “I’ll be seeing you, Regina,” she says just before scurrying away. 

Clearly she needs a new plan.

In her opinion, she’s dwelling too much on the wrong details— _ Regina’s plump lips, Regina’s naked body, Regina’s seductive chuckle, Regina’s name on her lips, Regina’s moan, Regina Regina Regina _ —so she takes a step back. This is about rescuing the woman from darkness and finding out what happened to them in the Realm of Possibilities. 

With that in mind, she goes to the one person she knows has Regina’s best interests at heart.  _ Pure _ at heart. 

“Henry. I need your help,” she says to him over dinner that night. She made pizza mac and cheese (not that she needed to bribe him, but she figured it couldn’t hurt. And who doesn’t like mac and cheese pizza anyway?), and he’s mid bite when she says it so he chews fast, like a little chipmunk, and it makes her reminisce over a younger Henry. 

The young man in front of her still has so much of that boyish nature and childlike enthusiasm in him, but his maturity only becomes more and more evident every day. Even with residue mac and cheese pizza at the corners of his lips. He wipes it off with his napkin before he asks, “Really?”

“Yes, really.” Emma grins. “Are you about to give it an Operation name?”

“Of course. That’s our thing isn’t it?”

He settles on Operation Jaguar before Emma gives him any details about what she needs help with, and he says it’s because jaguars are badass, just like the two of them. “Wait,” he says, experiencing some kind of realization that launches him into a new level of excitement. “Let’s call it Operation Badass.”

Emma laughs. “Sure. Just don’t tell your mom I let you get away with saying  _ badass _ ,” she says. Henry rolls his eyes and pinky promises her he won’t tell Regina about the name.

“So what do you need my help with?” he asks, prompting Emma to mention the dreams. She doesn’t go into too much detail (because it is her  _ son _ she’s talking with after all), but she tells him enough to get the idea.

“You haven’t had any weird dreams since we got back to Storybrooke have you?” she finally asks, her question followed by a deep breath. Her son frowns as he thinks about it, and Emma already knows the answer is going to be no. 

He shakes his head. “No, why? You’ve mentioned this before,” he observes, his eyes narrowing with suspicion. “Have they been getting worse? Do you think they’re memories or something?”

She ruffles his hair. “You’re too smart, you know that, kid?”

“That’s why you asked  _ me _ for help, right?” he laughs. 

“Of course,” Emma answers. “But to be honest, I’m not sure what they are. Do you think that memories coming through as dreams could be a little…skewed? Say, I have a dream about an alternate, but I’m not watching it from third person?”

“You mean, you’re not always yourself in these dreams?”

“Yeah, exactly. I think I am most of the time, but a few lately have been a little different. Like, I’m a different version of me, but it’s still a dream about an alternate. That sounds like something that could be a memory from the Realm of Possibilities, doesn’t it?”

“Maybe,” Henry shrugs. “That or you’re just thinking too much about alternates. You know how you can dream about studying for a big test if you’ve been thinking about it for too long? Or about eating pizza if you’ve been craving it? Maybe it’s kind of the same as that.”

Emma sighs, not having considered that. “You’re right, kid. That’s definitely possible,” she answers, thinking specifically about her kiss with Regina in the hallway the other day and the dream she’d had last night that might have been inspired by that particular event. The same could likely be said for the others as well. 

“I wouldn’t worry too much about it, Ma,” Henry tells her. “You’ll probably just cause yourself to have even weirder dreams. And then where would we be?” he grins. “If any of them have any clues or hints, keep those in mind, just in case they really do mean something. But otherwise, don’t overthink it.”

Emma doesn’t make any promises, but she certainly plans to try.

**xxx**

When Emma gets ready for bed that night, she tries to think about anything other than Regina and the Realm of Possibilities. Maybe she would be able to sway her dreams to something else, or nothing at all. She’s trying to use yesterday’s paper as a distraction when she hears a soft click of the front door, almost unnoticeable, but with how on guard she’s been lately, she doesn’t miss it.

The first thing she does is look for Henry.

He isn’t there.

And of course, of  _ all  _ the times to sneak out like a rebellious teenager, he would choose now, wouldn’t he? Regina’s really going to kill her this time.

Emma grabs her jacket and throws it on as she runs out the door, locking it quickly behind her before taking the steps two at a time. With any luck she hopes to catch him before he’s even left the building, but of course, she has none of that, and she can’t spot him even after she’s made it down to the street. 

She calls out for him once before reaching for her phone to call his, groaning when she realizes she left hers in the loft. She doesn’t want to waste time going back for it, so she decides to just wing it, using her Sheriff powers of detection to figure out which way Henry could have possibly gone. She decides  _ left _ and hopes for the best, wishing she could summon her own son the way she could Regina these days.

There aren’t a lot of people out, since it’s only getting darker by the minute and there are  _ two Dark Ones on the loose _ , but she asks everyone she passes if they’ve seen Henry. Some people claim to have not been paying enough attention, but others make a point to gesture vaguely in one direction or another.

To Emma’s surprise, she’s led to Regina’s house, and she feels dumb for not having thought about it before. She didn’t know if the woman had been here since becoming the Dark One, but regardless, it makes sense that Henry would come over here. This was his home after all, whether his other mother was there or not. Hopefully Henry would be, she thinks as she made her way down the walkway towards the front door.

She’d barely made it halfway, and a sudden noise from behind her causes her to yelp in surprise. However, the noise isn’t as big a shock as the sight of Hook standing behind her, an angry frown on his face. “She’s not here,” he said, his voice low and ominous.

“I’m not looking for Regina,” Emma says, holding her hands up defensively. “I’m looking for Henry.” 

Hook doesn’t react. His eyes remain trained on her, unblinking, and the most he does is take a step in her direction. The first step is followed by another, and Emma starts moving backwards as well. It won’t be long until she’s trapped between Hook and the front door, and she can’t help but hope that Henry isn’t actually here.

But of course, the door opens behind her, and her eyes close instinctively, just waiting for Henry’s voice to speak out from behind her, but moments pass and it doesn’t come.

“What the  _ fuck _ ,” she hears Hook say from the same place he was standing before, and Emma opens her eyes and spins around, stunned to see both Regina and Henry standing behind her. Her jaw goes slack and Henry offers her an apologetic smile as he moves to her side. 

Regina glides around them in one swift moment, to face Hook directly, standing right in front of Emma and Henry almost as if she’s protecting them. She doesn’t say anything as he fumes wordlessly across from them. Finally, she asks, “What?” a hint of irritation in her voice. It makes Emma yearn for the Regina she was  _ before _ becoming the Dark One—the one she wasn’t afraid of, even when other people seemed to be.

Hook stammers for a moment before growling, his head jerking as he turns to glare at her, unwavering for the first time since their face off started. Emma shudders at his stillness, and she wonders what would happen if she took Henry into the house with her and left the other two out there to fight it out. But then again, what if one of them said something important—something that hinted to whatever happened in the Realm of Possibilities.

She holds on for a moment, and sure enough, Hook starts talking.

“Why would you even come here?”

Emma doubts she should have laughed when Regina answered  _ I live here _ , but she does anyway, and Killian glares at her, his gaze venomous with rage. She shrugs at him, not allowing herself to be fazed by him, Dark One or not, and he fumes even more, redirecting his anger back at Regina, his supposed  _ partner in crime _ . He hisses at her under his breath, something unintelligible, but from his posture and Regina’s reaction, she can tell that something isn’t quite right. 

“Go inside,” Regina tells her and Henry, nudging them toward the door, but other than taking a few steps back, Emma doesn’t go. She keeps Henry behind her as she hovers in the open doorway, Henry standing behind her. Hook doesn’t seem to care that she’s still listening when he continues speaking, his voice rising.

“I didn’t kill myself so that you could turn against me and try to take all the power anyways,” he snarls, and Regina’s eyes widen.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me,” he spits. “I made the sacrifice that you couldn’t, so don’t act like you’re better than me all of a sudden. I earned my darkness, you just had to stand there and let it take you.” Regina remains unresponsive to it all until he laughs, cruel and mocking, and starts to say, “And the  _ curse _ —” 

Regina snarls, taking two swift steps closer to him and closing a hand around his neck. Her knuckles whiten, but he doesn’t react other than continuing to smirk down at her. “Shut up,” she tells him, her voice almost inaudible from where Emma is standing. She says something else, but Emma doesn’t catch it, nor does she pick up on whatever Killian says next.

Emma frowns. “Regina, what is he talking about?” She doesn’t think the Regina standing next to her would actually answer, even if there was an evident rift in the Dark One duo, but she asks anyway. Regina gives her a look. One she’s all too familiar with, telling her that she needs to be quiet. Frozen, she doesn’t give her usual response—she doesn’t shrug, she doesn’t roll her eyes, she doesn’t speak again. Instead she glances at Henry, worried more for his safety the louder Killian gets. His aggression is evident, and worse than she’s ever seen it before this fiasco (not that it was ever great). 

After talking to Ruby the other day, Emma really believed that the Killian that came with them to the Realm of Possibilities, and not an alternate version that had hitchhiked back to Storybrooke. Could someone from that realm even survive out here in this realm? If they were all made up of  _ possibilities _ rather than  _ actualities _ , how could they sustain themselves in a world they were never meant to exist in? 

Suddenly she wonders why they had never been asking the right questions. Maybe she and Ruby had been onto something that day in the diner.

She’s brought back to reality by a feral snarl from Killian. “She hasn’t told you yet, has she? If she has, I’d have to kill her. Take the rest of the darkness for myself.”

It’s terrifying, but more than anything it just pisses Emma off, and she lunges toward Killian. She doesn’t have a real plan for what she’s going to do when she gets there, but she isn’t just going to  _ let _ this bastard talk about Regina like that, Dark One or not. 

Before she can argue, Regina intercepts her, and her vision is filled with a cloud of dark purple smoke.

When she opens her eyes, she and Henry are standing in the hallway outside the loft, just as they had before, only this time, Regina is still next to them. 

“Henry, go inside,” Regina says, and her voice sounds softer than it has since she became the Dark One, and Emma can almost forget that’s who she is. She closes her eyes and imagines that the three of them are all there as a family—Regina dropping them off after picking up Henry for school or having dinner together, celebrating something just because they can. But she has to face reality, and she opens her eyes, still not used to seeing Regina like this—all sharp edges, dark lines, and cold eyes. 

“I don’t want to,” Henry protests, and all it takes is one look from Regina. “Fine,” he heaves before entering the loft. The door clicks shut behind him and Regina immediately turns on Emma.

“I want you to stay away from him.”

“Who, Henry?” Emma jokes. “Haven’t we been through this enough times, Regina?” She lets out a half hearted laugh, but Regina doesn’t join her.

“ _ Hook _ , Emma. I want you to stay away from  _ Hook _ .”

There’s something tender about the way she says it. She could have growled and snarled  _ stay away from Hook _ , commanding her to stay out of the situation, giving Emma a threat if she doesn’t listen, but instead she says  _ want. I want you to stay away from Hook. I want you. I want. _ Her heart skips, but she wouldn’t be Emma Swan if she didn’t contest Regina’s wishes, so she asks, “And what if I don’t?”

“I don’t want to find out,” Regina answers, her voice softening to a whisper. Her fingers ghost over Emma’s, who can’t help but turn her hand over, seeking to interlock their fingers, but by the time she has Regina’s hand on hers, it’s gone, smoke lingering in Regina’s wake.

Emma’s inside the loft long enough to down a cup of coffee, ignoring her parents questions about  _ where were you? _ and  _ who was that at the door, sweetie?  _ and their concerns about  _ did you eat dinner? do we need to remind you that coffee isn’t dinner? _

She makes her way upstairs, pacing once before making her decision. 

She needs to go after Regina. She didn’t trust Hook before today, but after seeing how he treats Regina, she trusts him even less. She isn’t going to let anything worse happen to her, and if it means taking on a Dark One, so be it. “Henry, stay here. I’m going out.”

“What?” Henry asks, jolting upright on the bed. “Ma, you can’t go out there. He’ll hurt you. I don’t want that.” He pauses for a moment, hesitating before he says, “and neither does Mom.”

“I can’t let anything happen to her, Henry. I made a promise, remember?”

“You’ve made several,” he counters. 

“Exactly. That’s why you have to let me go out there. I’ll be okay. You know I’ve been getting better at magic. And even if that fails me, I’ll still have my gun,” she says as she straps on the holster. 

Henry looks alarmed. “Wait, what are you planning on doing?”

“I don’t know,” she answers. “Maybe nothing, but I don’t like the idea of Regina facing him alone. Until I know how to save her, I want her to know that I’ve got her back.”

Henry shifts in place, and Emma wouldn’t be surprised if he fought her again, telling her not to go, but instead he nods, clearly hesitant. “Okay. But you have to be safe.”

“Of course. I—”

“I can’t lose you, too,” Henry swiftly interrupts, and Emma can only nod, worried he’ll detect the sadness and worry in her voice. She kisses him once on the forehead before slipping back into her jacket and jogging down the stairs, bypassing her parents once more as she leaves the loft. 

**xxx**

The night air is chilly. It’s dropped several degrees since she was last out here less than an hour ago, but when she shivers, she knows it isn’t because of the weather but because of the growl she hears as she approaches the docks. 

Staying hidden behind some random cargo, Emma creeps closer, attempting to hear Killian’s low, hissing whisper. She can’t make out the words, but she knows he’s angry. Angrier than he was earlier. Regina doesn’t look fazed by his harsh words, her face a picture of stoicism. Is she as strong as she looks in this moment? Or is it just a Dark One detachment from her soul, darkened by evil? 

Emma thinks about the moment in the hallway earlier. She thinks about the other moments she’s had with  _ Dark One Regina _ , unable to dismiss the humanity she saw in the woman’s eyes and how intentionally it disappeared. Regina’s fought the darkness before. Is it possible she really has full control over it? Is that the reason Killian is trying to gain power over Regina—taking advantage over her control? She moves closer.

“That isn’t part of the plan,” Regina snarls, her voice rising. “If you want to harness the full potential of your powers as a Dark One, you need to stop being so reckless. Abusing your strength will only cause your own downfall.”

Hook laughs, loud and menacing. “My downfall? And how is that going to happen, huh? Nobody can kill a Dark One. Except maybe you.”

Regina scoffs, and Emma can imagine her rolling her eyes as she does. “That isn’t how that works, you imbecile. I can’t believe anyone would ever entrust you with this kind of power. If I were the Darkness, I would have just passed you by.”

“Well, you  _ aren’t _ , and you  _ didn’t _ . Honestly, I don’t even know what you’re trying to accomplish here by  _ arguing  _ with me like this. I know what’s best,” he says. “I told you. I  _ earned _ my darkness. I  _ earned _ this magic.”

The words continue to pile up in Emma’s mind, and she knows it’s only a matter of time before they all topple, hopefully in a way that makes sense, though she doubts it will. There are too many gaps in her memory, too many unusual dreams that might be memories, and too many offhand comments from Hook that Emma is certain she wasn’t supposed to hear. And yet…

She takes another step closer to Hook and Regina, ready to jump into a fight should Regina need her help. Dark Hook or not, she was certain the two of them could take him down together, and she was even more certain sooner would be better than later

Unfortunately, their magics are too quick, she missed a few low threats from Regina and she took too big a step in the absolute wrong direction.

When the magic blast hits her, it feels like a splash of water— almost like a refreshing dive into a pool on a hot summer day, but then it grows icy, the cold clinging to her skin so much that it burns, and Emma can’t tell one thing from another.

The last thing she sees is Regina’s alarmed face, an almost broken look in her eyes.

Emma blacks out.

  
  



	6. Chapter 6

_ “This is the Realm of Possibilities.” _

_ Emma blinked, taking in the name of the realm and everything she’d seen since they arrived. As long as she didn’t think about it too hard, it made sense, but she still had so many questions and nowhere to begin. _

_ Of course, everyone else did too, and  _ Madam Mayor That Successfully Put Emma in a Sleeping Curse and Prevented the Townspeople From Waking Up And Realizing Their True Identities _ is bombarded with all kinds of questions at once. Everything from “Excuse me?” to “That’s the name of this realm?” to “Wait who are you again?” to “What are we doing here?” and followed by things like “So there’s more than one Regina?” and “Are you the mayor of the realm?” _

_ Emma wanted to groan. She wanted everyone to shut up and leave this woman alone until they could all sit down, prioritize their questions, and ask one at a time. The only thing that would come from this was a pissed off Mayor Mills and no help from her at all. _

_ As Emma expected the woman cleared her throat. She’s irritated. “If you’ll excuse me, I have more important matters to attend to,” and she turned on her heel to leave. When she reached the door, she turned once again. “Nice to see you again, Miss Swan,” she smirked at Emma, the sarcasm clear, and that was that. _

_ “Why wouldn’t she help us?” Mary Margaret pouted. _

_ Emma shrugged her hands in exasperation and let them fall loudly at her sides. “Why  _ would _ she? You heard who she was.” _

_ “Well—”  _

_ “No, Mom. Please. We’re going to have to go back out there and find someone who  _ will _ help us, okay? Sure, we got one answer, but now we only have more questions. We need to find Regina— _ Our Regina _ —and we’re going to need information on this realm to make that happen. If it’s a literal realm of possibilities, it must be huge. We need a map or something—a guide if we could manage that.” _

_ No one said anything, and for a moment, Emma thought they were going to ignore her. She was ready to start yelling at people or rashly storming out when David nodded. “Emma’s right,” he said, addressing the rest of the room. “We’re going to need resources if we want to find Our Regina and get us all home safely.” _

_ It took a moment, but eventually everyone (for the most part) was on board, and everyone divided up into groups—a buddy system. Henry’s assignment was to stay in Granny’s with Granny herself. He didn’t like it, but Emma saw no other choice. Hook would be with Emma, much to her dismay, because she didn’t trust him to be with anyone else. She had a feeling she would be needing to keep a close eye on him. Zelena would be with David, Ruby with Mary Margaret, and Robin with Leroy. _

_ Originally, they all decided to go out in groups of four—two pairs together—until they felt comfortable enough to split up more. they managed to make a map of the immediate area around Granny’s and a list of people they’d run into—none of which would be helpful to them—but they kept trying. _

_ It had nearly been a week, and nothing had happened. They hadn’t spotted Their Regina—only alternates, and it was clear that everyone was getting tired of the Realm and everything it had to offer. It was understandable, of course, interacting with back to back alternates of yourself was exhausting, but Emma wasn’t convinced anyone was trying hard enough or even asking the right questions. _

_ She hadn’t slept much, and she blamed most of that on Hook, who she had essentially attached herself to, with the exception of sleeping. Most nights, however, she’d curl up in one of the booths downstairs just to be sure he wasn’t sneaking out and going rogue. It didn’t take long for that to catch up to her though, and when her mother convinced her to take a nap on a bed upstairs, she ended up sleeping half the day away, waking up to find only Henry and Granny in the diner. _

_ “Where’d Hook go? He went with one of the pairs right?” _

_ Henry just shrugged. _

_ “Maybe we’ll leave him here,” Granny chuckled under her breath as she prepared dinner, and Emma half heartedly chuckled with her, too preoccupied with how much time she’d wasted to really consider the possibility. She started to get her things together so she could head out and make the most of what daylight was left, but Henry stopped her at the door.  _

_ “Ma, don’t go out by yourself. That was  _ your _ rule, remember.” _

_ Emma sighed. He was too smart these days. “Kid, I’ve got my map. Besides, I’m sure I’ll catch up with one of them. If something happens, no matter how small, I promise I’ll come back here, okay?” He hesitated, but eventually he nodded and moved so he could pass. _

_ “I’m trusting you,” he said. “Find mom, please.” _

_ She hugged him tight one more time, “You know I’m going to try,” she told him. “Maybe I’ll even find her tonight, or at least someone helpful,” she added, rolling her eyes as she remembered her run in with Princess Emma. “I’ll see you later, okay?” _

_ It was an odd relief, leaving the diner without Hook. He’d been nothing but dead weight up until this point, and she didn’t feel the slightest bit bad that he’d had to go out without her. Maybe they really would leave him here. _

_ She heard a noise in the trees to her left, and jumped. She hadn’t been walking for very long, so she hadn’t been expecting anyone to show up so soon. If it was Teen Emma again, she was going to be pissed, but she was relieved to see a head of dark brown hair in the bushes. _

_ “Hello?” Emma asked. “I come in peace?” she said, kicking herself in retrospect for sounding so dumb, especially when she came face to face with Regina only moments later. It wasn’t  _ Her _ Regina, but she recognized the woman immediately.  _

_ Bandit Regina. _

_ “Hey,” Emma said, the recognition feeling like a breath of fresh air, and the other woman seemed to be having the same reaction, only a little more confused.  _

_ “You remember me? From Operation Mongoose?” _

_ “Of course,” Emma answered, snorting with her amusement. “I’ve actually missed you. This version of you, I mean.” Bandit Regina opened her mouth to respond, but before she could, Emma kept going. “I didn’t think you would be here. Since your realm was kind of  _ real _ ? More real than these other ones anyway.” _

_ The bandit shrugged, dismissive of the subject. “I wasn’t always here,” was the only answer she gave for now, and Emma didn’t ask. _

_ “I’m glad you are here though. We need your help.” _

**xxx**

_ “That wasn’t her!” Mary Margaret shouted through the diner. It was twice the volume as whatever had last been said, and at least half the people in the dining room flinch at the tone. The woman looked immediately apologetic, muttering a small  _ sorry _ under her breath before continuing to speak out into the now silent room. “Look, all I’m saying is that just because Regina is the Dark One now, doesn’t mean she’ll be dressed like the Evil Queen. The woman we ran into earlier was definitely some version of the Evil Queen. Trust me, I  _ know _ ,” she concluded, exasperated.  _

_ “She’s right,” Robin nodded. “Definitely the Evil Queen.” _

_ “How are  _ you _ so sure, huh?” Emma snapped. David threw her a look. “I’m sorry, but this is ridiculous. Why are we just standing here, hiding out in Granny’s, analyzing every version of her that happens to wander nearby when we could be out there, exploring the realm and looking for  _ our _ Regina?” _

_ Her minor explosion had the diner even more silent than it was before. Despite the guilt in everyone’s eyes, a few people opened their mouths to argue back, but before they could, Emma held up a hand. _

_ “You know what? Don’t bother,” she scoffed. “I can go out and find her myself.” She stood and pulled on her jacket, deciding at the last moment to strap on her sheriff’s belt—complete with a flashlight and her gun. “Is anyone going to come with me?” Emma said more than asked, glancing once around the room before following up with a quick, “No? Okay.”  _

_ She turned to leave, stopped by the voice of one of the last people she would want to join her—for his own safety. “Wait,” Henry said, hesitating for a moment before asking, “Where’s Hook?” _

_ And of course, Emma didn’t  _ care _ where Hook was. She couldn’t be bothered anymore. But then again, him being missing was something to be concerned about, given how he’d been acting since the darkness took Regina. She glanced around the room as if he’d somehow appear, but he was nowhere to be found. Everyone else was looking along with her, and it seemed that no one else knew when he had gone missing or even that he had. It was a testament to how disliked he was, but Emma couldn’t let herself laugh about it. She had more important things to worry about. _

_ “Right,” she sighed. “I’m going to find Regina. The rest of you can worry about the pirate.” Emma stormed out, not giving a damn if anyone decided to come with her or not. They could all just sit around and drink lattes for all she cares.  _

_ As she walked, she tried to retrace her steps from the previous night. It was more difficult than she would have expected, since she could actually  _ see _ her surroundings this time, but it was just as unfamiliar to her as it was when she was in the growing darkness. But she knew someone was expecting her, and that that someone understood that she wasn’t from around here, nor were her instincts quite as good as the bandit’s. _

Bandit Regina _ , to be more specific.  _

_ She’d met her before, in the realm she belonged in if it had been real, and it was this experience that let Emma know that she could  _ trust _ Bandit Regina. The woman was the only person she’d encountered in this realm that could understand what it was like to be a part of a linear world—even if only slightly. Most other alternates only knew the Realm of Possibilities, and what it meant to be one version of many. _

_ It was something Emma couldn’t overthink. If she were to, she knew she would only lose focus, and she couldn’t let that happen. Regina needed her.  _ Her _ Regina, needed her. _

_ A branch snapped somewhere to her left, and she jumped. They had been here a week already, but Emma couldn’t seem to adjust to the total silence of the realm. She’d learned that wildlife was circumstantial. An alternate Snow White had quite a few animals, but they were only a frame of reference for her existence. There was a Cruella that had one hundred  _ live _ dalmations to coddle, but they travelled together in a pack. There was even a drove of rambunctious donkeys Robin found in a pub one day. Emma wasn’t surprised when he recounted the name as  _ Pleasure Island _ .  _

_ The last time she’d heard someone else wandering about the realm, it had turned out to only be Grumpy when his name was still Dreamy. Harmless. But she knew not everyone she encountered would be this way, which is why she ducked behind a tree when she saw Hook lurking through the trees. She knows it isn’t Regular Hook (calling him  _ Her _ Hook wasn’t an option) by the way he walked, somehow harsher and more unyielding. Regular Hook was stubborn but flakey. If he walked with a purpose, it was never a high priority purpose, but this Hook moved like he had  _ only _ high priority purposes. The physical resemblance to Regular Hook was uncanny, and Emma knew that was just the way alternates were; however, there was something different about this one. What it was, she wasn’t sure. _

_ She waited in place until he passed, waiting even longer to move, just in case he was some version of Hook with some kind of magic. After she got blasted by a magic Archie several days ago, she learned she could never be too sure.  _

_ Emma only took one step backwards when she felt a tap on her shoulder, and she yelped on instinct. A hand quickly covered her mouth, which only made her more alarmed, but as soon as she heard Regina’s voice in her ear, relief spread through her body. “Sorry to scare you, Emma,” Bandit Regina said, smiling at her as they faced each other.  _

_ So far in this realm, Bandit Regina has been the only person who just called Emma  _ Emma _ . To everyone else, it was Linear Emma, Stranger Emma, Standard Emma, Lost Emma, or something else. She’d heard almost all of it at this point, and she hadn’t realized how used to it she’d become until she ran into Bandit Regina, who greeted her with a big smile, her voice warm when she said  _ Emma _ . No modifier needed. _

_ Another recurring theme in the Realm of Possibilities was the way most Alternate Regina’s had their own Alternate Emma. It wasn’t just that the alternates connected, in the way that their timelines allowed, but also that they were  _ together _ . Sometimes dating, frequently involved, always a family. Bandit Regina was an exception. Her Emma  _ was _ Emma, taken away by the consequences of the Author’s meddling with the realms. _

_ In the Realm of Possibilities, she had none. She was alone. _

_ “It’s fine,” Emma smiled, her fingers brushing against Bandit Regina’s arm. She couldn’t help but feel what she was sure every other Emma in this realm felt about Regina, and despite knowing the woman was her  _ soulmate, _ it was hard to let herself give in like all her alternates clearly had—she still needed to save Her Regina after all—but it was even harder to force herself to stay away. “How are you?” _

_ Bandit Regina smiled again, more strained this time. “Another day in paradise,” she jokes with a dry laugh, leading Emma through the forest towards her camp. The place is more hidden than it had been in the Operation Mongoose realm, but just as cozy. Emma didn’t speak again until they were safely inside, sitting by the dim light of the fire. _

_ “If I could bring you back with us, I would. But I don’t know what that would cause. A paradox or something? That’s what Doctor Who says anyway. Timey-wimey,” Emma laughed, and Bandit Regina frowned, not getting the reference. “Anyway, maybe it wouldn’t be a problem. After we find My Regina, we could look into it.” Emma’s choice of words didn’t register until she saw them reflected in the bandit’s eyes. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “The Regina from my realm.” _

_ “No, you don’t have to correct yourself,” Bandit Regina told her. “I know it’s complicated, but you aren’t wrong.” _

_ “I know, but—” Emma started to say, but Bandit Regina stopped her with a small shake of her head. Emma ignored it, thinking more about the look in the bandit’s eyes than the gesture.  _

_ She remembered the way Bandit Regina had told her her life story yesterday. The way she let the bandit cry into her shoulder, and the way she kissed her forehead without even thinking about it. She remembered when they met in the Operation Mongoose realm, Regina running to her with an  _ I’m so happy you found me _ , her arms wrapped tight around Emma’s neck. She remembers them working together as a perfect team to get everything back to the way it should be, Regina’s lips soft on hers when they used True Love’s Kiss. It was the last moment Bandit Regina had with Emma—with  _ Her  _ Emma.  _

_ “But you’re My Regina, too,” she said, her forehead leaning against the bandit’s, her hand coming up to cup the smooth skin of her cheek. Bandit Regina shifted away from Emma, and the action caused a pang in Emma she wasn’t expecting. “Emma.  _ Please _ . If I can’t have you forever, I don’t want you at all. It—it hurts too much.” She looked away for a moment before meeting Emma’s eyes once again. “Let’s just save the day once again, okay?” _

_ Emma nodded, hesitant but wanting to respect the bandit’s wishes. “So, an Alternate Hook just came through here moments before you arrived. I don’t know what he was doing, but it definitely seemed sketchy. _

_ “What was he doing?” _

_ “He looked like he was looking for something. Or someone. He had this determined look on his face, but it wasn’t really normal. He had this wild, unhinged look in his eyes—not quite like he would kill a man for a good reason, but just because he could? But at the same time he wasn’t acting particularly violent. Do you know what I mean?” Emma was struggling to place whatever she thought was wrong, but she knew she just sounded ridiculous. “All I know is that something really seemed off about him, but then again, I’m sure that’s how most of his alternates are. I mean—the one from my realm is definitely fu—” _

_ “Emma,” Bandit Regina cut her off. “Can you describe him a little more for me? I’ve met a lot of Hook alternates, and most of them have obvious signifiers. Just tell me everything you saw, and we can try to narrow it down. If you think something’s wrong, it probably is.” _

_ The phrase caused Emma’s heart to pound. It was affirming in a way that sent chills down her spine. “Um, okay,” she said. “He looked a lot like Regular Hook—the one from my realm, I mean. I even think he was wearing the same clothes, now that I think about it.” _

_ Bandit Regina frowned. “Describe them,” she prompted. _

_ “Standard Modern Hook attire. Black leather jacket—the short one. Black jeans. He even had on that stupid dark blue button up that’s dark enough that it almost looks like he has on all black, but colorful enough that he can deny wearing all black. It was the exact same outfit the Hook from my realm had on when we came here.” Emma shrugged. “But I’m sure there’s some alternate from that night wandering around here. Whichever one I would have been soulmates with if  _ I  _ had been the one to make that sacrifice.”  _

_ Bandit Regina was silent for a long moment, her eyes firmly on Emma’s. The blonde squirmed under her gaze.  _

_ “Hook as my soulmate would be here, right? Since that was a possibility that didn’t happen? And can’t still happen?” _

_ Bandit Regina nodded once, so slowly that Emma wasn’t even sure she was doing it. “Yes, he would be here. I believe there are a few of him, since that possibility has a few twists along the way. This realm is essentially endless after all.” Bandit Regina’s brow creased even more as she thought. “Most of them aren’t wearing the same clothes as they were the night of the sacrifice though. In fact, I’m not sure that any of them are. Just like there isn’t a Regina in the outfit she was wearing that night, or an Emma dressed the way you were. It’s just the way the realm works. Because the alternates are so similar, there has to be some way to differentiate them.” _

_ “But…” Emma started, a sinking feeling building in the pit of her stomach. Something really was wrong. “The Hook I saw looked almost... _ evil. _ The Hook from my realm may be an asshole, and sure, maybe he’s killed people before, but I don’t think I would say he’s  _ evil. _ ” Emma snorted, “And just know, I mean that in therudest, most degrading way possible. He’s really just not much of anything. The Hook I saw definitely was.” _

_ “Did your magic react in any way?” _

_ “What do you mean?” _

_ “Magic provides a new layer of intuition. You know, the way birds can sense danger? That feeling is stronger here. You know, since there are no birds to alert you to something harmful. It may not have been a feeling you felt at the forefront, but something under the surface—not strong enough to be a premonition but more noticeable than a red flag.” _

_ Emma thought back, trying to pull back as many details as she could from that moment not even an hour ago. She’d been so concerned with being seen to dwell too much on how her magic had reacted, but as she really thought about it, everything became more and more clear. She remembered way her hands burned, as if preparing her for defense or attack. She remembered the way her head buzzed, fighting for dominance over the presence of a stronger magic.  _

Magic _ .  _

_ Could Hook have magic? Or could there have been someone else (or something else) nearby? Even if there had been, it would be hard to rationalize something else being the cause, when what she felt aligned perfectly with Hook’s appearance and the way it all drifted away when he had walked away. She couldn’t have imagined this, and now that it was on her mind, she couldn’t believe she hadn’t noticed it before.  _

_ “There was someone with magic—really powerful magic. Could it have been him? Are there any Hook alternates that practice magic? Outside of the weird no-aging thing I mean.” _

_ Bandit Regina paled. “There’s only one, that I know of. Dark Hook.” _

_ Emma gaped. “There’s a Dark Hook?” _

_ “There’s a Dark Everyone,” Regina laughed. “Have you met Dark Swan yet? She’s sometimes with Dark Hook.” Emma nearly gagged. “Oh, no, it’s not like that. They’re just a team. It’s some kind of ‘bro thing,’” Bandit Regina explains with air quotes. “I’ll never understand it, but they make a good team. They’re like…” she trailed off, trying to find the words to explain sufficiently. “They’re like the Batmans of the realm.” _

_ Emma shook her head with a laugh, “You know Batman, but not Doctor Who? Whatever version of Henry you’ve been hanging out with seriously needs to step it up. But anyway, I’m glad to hear that Dark Emma and Dark Hook are actually making wise choices—friendly neighborhood Dark Ones,” she laughed again.  _

_ “Dark  _ Swan _ ,” Bandit Regina corrected, “And I didn’t reference Spiderman.” _

_ “Well,  _ I  _ did,” Emma teased. The moment was light and easy, so much so that Emma almost forgot there was reason to be concerned. The idea of her as a Dark One bro-ing out with a Dark version of Hook (that apparently was better than any other version of him as an adult) was too amusing. Except that—“Wait,” she said as the idea really sunk in. “If Dark Hook is a good guy, then why did he seem like the exact opposite when I saw him earlier?” _

_ “And why was he wearing different clothes…” Bandit Regina muttered. “You’re  _ sure _ about the blue shirt? And the jacket being leather?” _

_ “Maybe, pleather,” Emma scoffed, “but yeah. I’m sure.” _

_ Bandit Regina remained frozen for a moment before her mouth suddenly opened, like she was about to say something, only she didn’t. She shook her head and mumbed, “No, that can’t be right.” _

_ “What is it?” Emma asked, her voice rising with the growing urgency.  _

_ “What color was his hook?” _

_ Emma released a sound of disbelief, “What kind of a question is that?” _

_ “Just answer it,” Bandit Regina answered, her voice sounding as if she can’t breathe until Emma does.  _

_ “The same color it always is. Silver. Why?” _

_ Bandit Regina leapt out of her seat, alarming Emma both with the intensity and the suddenness of the movement. “We have a problem,” she said, frantic. “We need to go. Something is definitely wrong.” _

_ The bandit prepared to leave immediately, and stood nervously, concerned for the first time in her life that they’re being too impulsive. She felt the magic coming from the Dark Hook alternate, and she’d be lying if she said it didn’t scare her. While a part of her was confident she could take Hook regardless of which one it was, another part of her couldn’t ignore the dread she felt in her gut. “Where are we going?” Emma asked, her voice shaking just slightly. “Should we be doing this? You haven’t even told me what’s wrong.” _

_ Bandit Regina sighed as she strapped on her sheath of arrows and bow. “I’m not certain yet, but we’re going to find out. We need to talk to Dark Hook,” she said as she headed for the door, Emma’s heart raced, but she was going to trust Bandit Regina. For all she knew, she’d just caught the Dark One at the wrong moment. After all, everyone had bad days. _

_ There wasn’t time to consider the possibilities, because before she knew it, they were outside, several meters away from Bandit Regina’s home, and the woman was speaking out. “Killian Jones. Killian Jones. Killian Jones.” _

_ Emma spoke the minute she had finished the summon, “I thought that didn’t work here?” _

_ “The rules are complicated, but it can work for most Dark Ones. Really, any of them except for Regina, Rumplestiltskin, and anyone else who was a Dark One in an existing timeline. So if they’re a possibility or if they became a Dark One while in this realm, it works.” _

_ “What do you mean  _ became _ a Dark One in this—” But Emma didn’t get to finish her question.  _

_ “Well, well, well, what do we have here.” Hook’s voice was harsh, but still so familiar that it didn’t phase Emma. Magic or not, she didn’t think she could possibly be afraid of him. She rolled her eyes. _

_ “What do you want?” she asked, and Bandit Regina shot her a warning look. _

_ “Shouldn’t I be the one asking you that question?” he snickered, the sound empty and cold. “You were the ones that summoned me after all.”  _

_ “Where’s your partner?” Bandit Regina asked. _

_ “Partner!” Dark Hook barked, on the edge of amusement and irritation. “I don’t need a partner. I’m strong enough to stand alone.” _

_ Emma scoffed. This Hook was so much like the one she wished they left at home that she couldn’t take him seriously, even if she wanted to. This Hook was just as bad as the stingy vegan hipster alternate of Robin, the version he would have been if he had come to Storybrooke with Regina’s dark curse. “There are so many Dark Ones in this realm,” Emma found herself saying. “What makes you so special you arrogant prick?” _

_ Bandit Regina broke composure for only a moment to laugh. It only lasted for a second before Hook was at her throat, lifting her from the ground with his hand, his eyes, darker than she recognized, on Emma. “You’re going to regret that.”  _

_ She doesn’t have time to react before Hook dropped Bandit Regina, her body crumpling as it hit the ground, and Emma looked away, sure this Hook had just killed her. She couldn’t say anything to that. She choked back a sob, trying not to flinch when she felt the cool metal of his hook around her wrist, digging into the skin just enough to cause her to wince.  _

_ “Oh, this is nothing,” he sneered, “compared to the pain I could inflict on you.” _

_ “Whatever,” Emma nearly growled. “I’m not afraid of you,  _ Killian _ ,” she said, spitting his name like it deserved to be said. Hook really was worthless in every possibility. She wasn’t sure how  _ this Hook _ could have ever been considered helpful to anyone. “Batman, my ass,” Emma muttered. “You’re nothing special,” she said, repeating her earlier sentiment. “Just another Dark One who didn’t make the cut for a real realm.” _

_ For some unfathomable reason, Hook laughed at that, like he was genuinely amused by the comment. The sound echoed through the trees, extending the reaction even longer than it already was. Eventually the world around them was silent again, and Emma noticed the sun was starting to set. “Oh, you have no idea, do you?” he asked. He explains without waiting for a reaction from Emma. “I obtained the darkness myself—took it on much like your  _ soulmate.  _ Well, maybe not  _ quite _ like that. Her sacrifice wasn’t even a real sacrifice.” he sneered again. “No one had to  _ die _ ,” he laughed once, and it was sick how joyful it sounded. “Really, it just means I’m better than her.” _

_ “What are you talking about?” Emma asked. Bandit Regina’s words echoed in her mind—” _ if they became a Dark One while in this realm” _ —and she couldn’t take her eyes off the blue visible under his leather jacket and the too-fresh blood stain smeared across the front. The silver Hook, as if Dark Hook’s wasn’t the same. _

_ She felt the magic in him before he used it. It felt like an alarm going off throughout her nervous system, blaring out for her to get away as fast as possible, but in that same moment, red smoke enveloped her, and she gasped. trying to pull away from the hook around her arm without its point breaking skin. It didn’t work, and he only tugged harder once the smoke dissipated.  _

_ “Open your eyes,” Hook growled, yanking Emma’s arm once until she did as he asked. Her jaw dropped when she saw why he’d brought her here, her eyes immediately landing on the body in front of them.  _

_ It belonged to Hook.  _

_ By the looks of the outfit, all sleek black down to his hook, she presumed this was the realm’s Dark Hook—the partner to her own Dark One alternate. His body was lifeless, mangled enough to make Emma feel nauseous, but she fought the urge to throw up, looking away from the scene.  _

_ All it took was the Hook next to her to laugh again, and Emma was buckled over, vomiting into the dirt next to Dark Hook’s body. She now knew why this Hook—the one she had first thought was the Dark Hook from this realm—had been unnaturally familiar. It was  _ Hook _ —the one that had come with them from Storybrooke, the one that could have been her soulmate, the one that had disappeared from Granny’s not even twenty-four hours ago. _

_ “I had to do it. When I realized that I could… well. There was no other choice,” he told her. “I mean,  _ who  _ could throw an opportunity like that away?” _

_ “You killed him,” Emma said, her voice a hoarse whisper. _

_ “To become the Dark One.” _

_ “ _ A _ Dark One,” Emma weakly corrected. Her muttered comment went unnoticed by Hook. He was too pleased with himself to care what Emma said or did. His hook wasn’t even keeping her trapped anymore. She spit onto the ground one more time, wiping her mouth as she stood back up. Her eyes met Killian’s, and all she could feel was disgust, the shock had already worn off.  _

_ “Don’t you see,” he started, a crazed look in his eyes as he takes one of Emma’s hands in his, ignoring the way she tries to pull it back, “this is how it was meant to happen. We were fated as soulmates once. We can go back to that possibility,” he explained, his voice growing more deranged as he continued. “All you need to do is kill Dark Swan. You can take on the darkness, and we can be together as the Dark Ones, just like we were meant to be.” _

_ Emma gaped at him, shaking her head. She didn’t know what that possibility had in store for her, but she knew it would never come to fruition—not just because the path with Regina was already in motion, but because she would never choose to be with Hook. Not even if her life depended on it, which, given the situation she was in, it just might. _

_ “Fuck off,” Emma scoffed, spitting again, this time at Hook. He growled, charging at her as she stepped back, and he missed her by mere inches. “Why do you think I would want that? If I wanted to be with you—if I wanted to be the  _ Dark One _ —I would have thrown myself into the darkness when I had the chance. You’ve lost all my respect, Killian. We have  _ no _ chance of a future together.” He bared his teeth, madder than she had ever seen him. “We never did.”  _

_ Hook was about to lunge at her again, but just before he did, there was movement a short distance away. The two of them froze, Hook maintaining his stance, ready to attack, and Emma preparing to run if she had a chance to get away from him. She heard the voice before she locates the source. It was unrecognizable. “Killian?” the voice asked, frail and concerned. If anything, Emma would have expected the kind of fear that’s expressed at anything remotely horrific—the scene the mystery woman is walking into clearly  _ was _ —but instead, the fear the voice contains was  _ reverent _ . _

_ It didn’t make sense until she looked. _

_ She fought the urge to vomit again as she took in the sight of another alternate of hers—one she remembered seeing once before, with a different Killian alternate. She looked bad before, but the sight of her now is even more jarring than it had been before. She scampered to Hook’s side, looping her arms around one of his—the one with the hook to be exact—and she looked up to him with wide, sunken eyes that were full of that reverent fear and something akin to admiration. Together the two could be mistaken for  _ love _ but Emma knew better. _

_ Hook looked back at Emma with a triumphant smirk. “It doesn’t matter if you don’t want me.  _ This one _ is my real soulmate.” At the word soulmate Weak Emma beamed up at Hook, and Emma felt a wave of nausea spread through her body. “Emma Swan,” Hook grinned, the expression empty, “meet Emma Jones.”  _

_ “You’re disgusting,” Emma snarled. She said it to both of them, and they both react. Emma Jones pouts while Killian glared at her once again. “But you know what?” she said, backing up as she did, “maybe you two deserve each other after all.”  _

_ She started to leave, thinking Killian won’t give a damn anymore now that he’s with the Emma he was  _ destined _ to be with, but she was wrong. He was by her side in only a second, the hook back around one arm and his hand roughly gripping the other. “If you leave, I’ll kill her.” _

_ Emma scoffed. “I don’t care what happens to your precious soulmate,” she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm as her eyes met the watery eyes of Emma Jones over Killian’s shoulder. _

_ “I wasn’t talking about my soulmate,” Killian said, his voice a menacing whisper, “I was talking about yours.” _

_ It threw Emma off course. “You know where she is?” she blurted. _

_ Killian smirked. “I can take you to her as long as you do what I say.” _

_ “Nice try, but I won’t.” _

_ “Then I’ll kill her,” he responded, as if it was the easiest thing in the world. _

_ “I’ll save her before you can,” Emma countered. _

_ “It won’t matter that you saved her when I take your memories,” he threatened. “I’ll make sure the two of you never end up together whether she’s alive or not.” _

_ Emma scoffed. “You became the Dark One, what, yesterday? I’d like to see you try to do anything remotely effective. You wouldn’t know how to use magic if it worked all on its own, much less if its yours to control.” She jerked once, trying to evoke her own magic and pull away from him. She didn’t think her magic contributed, but she managed to get out of his grip and take a step back. He looked angry but didn’t fight back this time. Instead, he took his own steps back until he was at Emma Jones’s side, holding out his hook for her to hold it as if it were another hand. Emma rolled her eyes. “You know where to find me,” she said before turning to walk away.  _

_ They didn’t follow her. _

**xxx**

_ By the time she made it back to Granny’s everyone else was already back from their daily rounds—if they even made them—and Mary Margaret was fussing about how long she’d been gone and how much of a mess she looked. _

_ “Did something happen?” someone asked, but Emma didn’t register who. She didn’t know how to answer anyway. Should she tell them what happened? How would they react? She’d skipped so much crucial information already, how would they react to learning she’d been withholding it? But if she didn’t tell them and Hook showed up here…  _

_ She would handle it, she decided. Maybe it was a stupid decision, but she didn’t see any reason why telling them would actually be helpful. They would only freak out.  _

_ “Not really,” Emma answered. “I just thought I’d gotten lost, but I figured it out. Obviously,” she added, gesturing at her presence in the diner. “I didn’t find anything helpful, but I do have a theory about Hook.” _

_ A chorus of “What?” and “What is it?” and “Did you see him?” sound around the room, and Emma held up her hands to calm them, trying to decide how to best phrase this  _ theory _ . _

_ “I’m not sure he’s with us anymore. There’s this other Emma? They’re like, together or something. It’s kind of weird, but…” she trailed off with a shrug. “Better her than me, right?” _

_ It seemed like no one knew how to react to that, and Emma couldn’t blame them. Dark One magic aside, the one thing Emma couldn’t get over was the way Emma Jones looked, clinging to Killian like he was her life support. She wasn’t sure what his big plan was, or if he even had one, but she figured that as long as he had an Emma that would respect his every wish and desire, he might just leave her alone. His threats were likely empty, but she would look into that more tomorrow while looking for Regina. _

_ That was why she was here after all.  _

**xxx**

_ The next morning, the first thing Emma did was look for Bandit Regina’s body. As she retraced her steps toward the woman’s home, Emma couldn’t help but hope for the best possible outcome—that Bandit Regina had only just passed out from air loss or something and made it back to her home. It was what Emma wanted to believe—even though her hopes weren’t very high. Hook was ruthless in general, so it would only make sense for him as a Dark One to be any worse. _

_ When Emma circled the area and found nothing, she was more panicked than relieved. Had Hook come back to finish her off? Had he disposed of the body himself just to torture Emma further? She hoped it was neither option, preferring that the woman got up on her own and made it to safety. _

_ The bandit’s home was empty when Emma entered after searching the area a few more times in case she missed anything. It was the kind of empty that it hadn’t been before—indicating that Bandit Regina had returned and moved her stuff to a new, more secure location.  _

_ Emma was about to leave when she saw a folded piece of paper leaned against the fireplace, and when she opened it to see her own name in the woman’s handwriting, she breathed a sigh of relief. The bandit was okay.As suspected, she had moved to another location, since she was sure Dark Hook would be able to find her. She apologized for disappearing and not sharing her location—she couldn’t risk it, and Emma understood.  _

I hope I see you again _ , the letter ended, and Emma’s heart ached for the woman, roaming this world alone. She would bring her back to Storybrooke with her if she could, but there wouldn’t be much happiness for the bandit there either. Maybe there was a Bandit Emma wandering the realm, or an Emma who had lost her Regina. They could find each other and not be alone anymore. _

_ Emma pushed the thought from her mind before it could spiral. It would be too easy to believe that the universe was trying to pull every Emma and Regina apart, in this realm and all others, but there wasn’t enough evidence to support that theory. It wasn’t something she wanted to consider anyway. _

_ She left the bandit’s home and decided to keep walking. She’d learned a few tricks from Bandit Regina about making her way through the realm, and she planned to use them to reach unexplored territory, looking the whole way for places Regina might be hiding out.  _

_ There were more than she’d expected, of course, because the realm didn’t make sense like a normal place would have. It existed without much context, and while a lot of the realm consisted of forests and nature, there was the occasional cottage, modern home, apartment complex, or even a full street, complete with shops. Some buildings were abandoned, and those were the ones Emma focussed the most on. Regina may be wealthy back home, but she hardly found that reason to believe the woman would be renting an apartment in the middle of a strange realm.  _

_ The last time she’d seen Her Regina, the woman had been almost feral—out of control when it came to the darkness inside of her, and Emma used that knowledge to search. She stayed attuned to her own magic, trying to sense if any other magic users were nearby, or if she could pick up on Regina’s specific signal. _

_ She’d been walking for hours, but had no luck whatsoever. It felt like the further she went from Their Granny’s, the further away any magic users were. The air felt too still and too flat, and when Emma came up on her  _ fourth _ alternate of Storybrooke’s Main Street, she decided she should just turn around. _

_ That was when she felt it. _

_ The tingle in her hands started small, but it built fast until it extended to a throbbing in her chest, so strong that she could feel her eyes starting to water. “Regina,” she muttered, looking around her, knowing that the woman was nearby. She wasn’t going to lose her this time. “Please,” she whispered, hoping she would be heard by the one person she needed to listen. _

_ The feeling faded for a moment, and Emma felt crushed. Had she scared Her Regina off? How was she supposed to save her if she could barely find her to begin with? Was Regina unwilling to be saved? Had she forgotten that Emma promised? She couldn’t fall back on her promise. She couldn’t let Regina—her  _ soulmate _ down. _

_ Emma hardly had time to beat herself up for whatever mistakes she’d made when the feeling came back, and she felt a hand gentle on her shoulder. She spun on the spot, nearly throwing herself at Regina— _ Her _ Regina, who stood in place, stunned by Emma’s reaction.  _

_ “You’re really here,” Emma said, physically unable to  _ not _ smile at the woman still in her arms. “I haven’t stopped looking for you since we got here. Well, except to sleep, but really that’s part of looking for you too, since I need to be alert and stuff. And I can already see you lecturing me about not getting adequate sleep—oh, which reminds me, Henry is fine. He stays at Granny’s to be safe, but he really misses you, too. Maybe not more than me, but…” Emma trailed off, blushing furiously, both at her admission and at her rambling in general. “Anyway, you need to come back with me. We’re taking you home.” _

_ For whatever reason, she’d expected Regina to nod, take her hand, and poof them back to Granny’s, but she wasn’t entirely surprised when the opposite happened. Regina pulled back, dropping her hands from Emma’s reach. She shook her head. “You know I can’t go back there. It isn’t safe.” _

_ Emma’s heart dropped, but she took another step toward Regina. “Yes it  _ is _ ,” she insisted. “I’m not going to let anything happen, okay? I promised to save you, and I will.” _

_ When Emma took her hands this time, Regina didn’t pull away. She laughed just slightly, shaking her head at the woman across from her. “How?” she asked, her expression growing more serious. “Emma, don’t make promises you can’t keep.” _

_ “I—” she started, ready to argue, to  _ fight _ for Regina’s happiness. She may not have been able to sacrifice herself for the woman, but she wasn’t going to let the darkness take her over entirely. Whether she knew how to save Regina or not, she wasn’t about to let her down. “I don’t care,” she announced in defiance. “I’m going to find a way,” she said, taking another step forward and pulling Regina toward her, so close their foreheads were touching and she could feel Regina’s breath on her lips.  _

_ “Emma,” Regina said, her voice soft and pleading as she gripped Emma’s arms, and that was all it took. Emma leaned forward, capturing Regina’s lips with her own and melting into the kiss. She had no idea what True Love’s Kiss looked like in this realm, if it existed at all, but if there was any chance it would save Regina, Emma was going for it. _

_ She moved her hands to Regina’s waist, gripping as though she was worried the woman would slip right through her fingers. To Emma’s surprise, Regina held her back, one hand tangling into her blonde hair and the other twisting her shirt collar to pull her closer, leaving no room between them. _

_ Emma’s back hit a tree as Regina kissed her, just as desperately as she did. It took Emma a moment to realize they weren’t in the same location they were when they’d started kissing, but she could hardly care, too distracted with the events that were currently unfolding—the soft feel of Regina’s lips, the harsh tugs of her hair, the way Regina whimpered when Emma bit her lip and started to kiss along her jawline.  _

_ Before she could reach Regina’s pulse point, the woman coaxed Emma’s lips back to hers with a gentle hand under her chin. “Kiss me,” Regina whined, her hands travelling down to Emma’s hips to tug on her belt loops, and Emma complied, her hands cradling Regina’s face before doing some hair pulling of her own. _

_ It made her dizzy, kissing Regina, but Emma put everything she had into the kiss, willing Regina to find equilibrium with her normal self and herself as the Dark One. If True Love’s Kiss didn’t take the darkness out of Regina, she needed her soulmate to know that she was loved, wholly and completely. Emma didn’t want to  _ chase _ Regina, she wanted to stand by her side, hand in hand. She wanted to help Regina, not in opposition, but as a team.  _

_ She didn’t want to let her go. _

_ Their kiss slowed, and their lips lingered just so before parting, only to come together once more. Emma wasn’t ready to stop, and she stroked through Regina’s hair until she was cupping the back of her head and leaving gentle kisses to her cheeks, her nose, her eyelids, and back to her lips, puffy and pink and beautiful. _

_ When she finally pulled back, she gazed into Regina’s eyes, hoping to see a sign of comfort within her soulmate or a tinge of relief from the weight of the darkness, but she only saw anguish, _

_ Emma inched forward, hoping to kiss the woman again to tell her that it was okay, but instead Regina took a step back, shaking her head. “I’m sorry,” she whispered as she took them to a different location before disappearing entirely. The purple smoke faded, but the feeling of Regina’s lips on hers didn’t—the grief she felt didn’t. _

_ But Emma wasn’t about to let Regina go. _

_ She had to save her. _


	7. Chapter 7

_ Emma was lost in the Realm of Possibilities, no thanks to Her-Own-Freaking-Regina, who had poofed her into the middle of freaking nowhere—not that she wasn’t already there before—in an attempt to protect her, even though the only thing Emma wanted was to protect Regina. She tried not to think about it as she rushed through the trees, looking for anything that looked familiar, or at least somewhere that looked safe enough to camp out for the night. It wasn’t until the sky was going from orange to dark blue that a thought occurred to her. She came to a sudden stop, taking a look around her to make sure she was alone before muttering her own name three times in a row.  _

_ For whatever reason, she kept her eyes closed as she did so—maybe a part of her was afraid of what the Dark One version of herself would be like—and she didn’t open them until she heard a light scoff and a voice that was both familiar and strange all at once. “Well, this certainly isn’t what I was expecting.” _

_ And Emma could say the same about the woman in front of her.  _

_ Maybe it was because she’d become so accustomed to the archaic attire worn by everyone in the Enchanted Forest, but she wasn’t expecting Dark Swan to look so  _ modern _ . And maybe it was because she knew Dark Swan and Dark Hook (the real one, may he rest in peace) were comrades, but she wasn’t expecting Dark Swan to look so  _ healthy _ . She was translucent and pale, all sharp edges and dark contrasts—red lips against white skin and dark, sleek leather against even whiter hair.  _

_ Emma couldn’t help but compare this alternate to Emma Jones, who was another kind of pale, almost malnourished. Her lips were a faint pink, not a drastic contrast to her greyish complexion. The most contrast on Emma Jones were the from the bags under her eyes and the flowers on her grandma-style sweater. The two couldn’t be more different. _

_ And then, of course, there was Emma, facing the version of her she could have easily become if she made that sacrifice. It would have been incredible, no doubt, to possess that kind of power; however, given who she would have become afterwards—Emma Jones,  _ Weak Emma _ —it wouldn’t have been worth it. _

_ Dark Swan seemed to know what she was thinking, and she snorted with disdain. “She’s a trip, isn’t she? I’m just glad that in this realm, I don’t ever have to become that.” She paused a moment, cocking her head. “And actually, since you’re here, unpossessed by the darkness, you won’t either.” _

_ “Thank god,” Emma muttered. “I don’t know how I could live like that. Especially not with—” She cut herself off, wondering how much Dark Swan knew of the Dark Hook situation. The woman gave her a sad smile before looking down. Emma took a step closer to her. “You already know.” _

_ “Of course I do,” she answered. “And I’m not surprised it happened.” _

_ “Why not?” Emma couldn’t help but ask. _

_ Dark Swan shook her head once. It was getting so dark that the movement was almost impossible to make out. “Walk with me,” the Dark One said, leading Emma gently by the arm. “We shouldn’t talk about this out here.” _

_ They walked a few paces before Dark Swan poofed them away in a cloud of gray smoke with no warning. Emma should have seen it coming, but that didn’t stop her from falling to the floor the second she knew where it was.  _

_ Feeling the carpet beneath her fingertips surprised her. If they were in Dark Swan’s home, she wouldn’t have imagined the place with whatever decor she notices first—the paisley pattern carpet, maroon with gold accents, and expensive furniture that looked like it came right out of George Vanderbilt’s library. She stood and gaped, her surprise evident. _

_ “Not what you were expecting?” _

_ “No. I would have thought you lived in something more like…I don’t know, Regina’s vault.” For some reason, Emma couldn’t shake the idea that Dark Ones were synonymous with cold and aloof, though she was positive Hook was to blame for that presumption. _

_ “Funny you should say that,” a second voice spoke from the doorway. _

_ “Oh my god,” Emma blurted as she spun on the spot. She didn’t know what version of Regina would be here, but a part of her hoped it was  _ Her _ Regina—a Dark One seeking refuge with another Dark One—but as soon as their eyes meet, Emma knew this wasn’t the right alternate. _

_ This was the Evil Queen. _

_ Even though it had been one hell of a day, and Emma shouldn’t be surprised by anything at this point, she couldn’t help but gasp when the woman strode into the room and crashed her lips against Dark Swan’s. They could have been making out for ten minutes, but Emma lost all concept of time as she tried to recover from the sight in front of her as it unfolded. Even when she managed to look away, she could see it so vividly in her mind. She doubted she would ever forget it.  _

_ She swallowed hard and cleared her throat, muttering an apology for interrupting.  _

_ “We don’t have to stop,” the queen winked, and Emma melted on the spot. _

_ “It’s fine,” she managed to choke out. It’s just, uh, we probably need to focus on this Dark One Hook situation.” _

_ The Evil Queen frowned, sending a questioning look Dark Swan’s way, her hand looping tight around the other woman’s waist in a form of preemptive comfort. “Did something happen?” All it took was one look from Dark Swan and the Evil Queen seemed to catch on immediately. “He killed him, didn’t he?” Her free hand came up to pinch the bridge of her nose. She shook her head before groaning and looking at Emma. “Why is your Hook such scum?” _

_ Emma held up her hands in defense, “I don’t claim that asshole, okay?” _

_ “Sorry, you know what I mean. We can just call him Scumbag Hook from now on.” _

_ “Aren’t there more of those, though?” Emma asked, fighting a laugh. Despite how funny the comment was, now really wasn’t the time. The Evil Queen and Dark Swan chuckle in response to her question. _

_ “You’re right. We can just call him Hook,” Dark Swan suggested, and Emma thought about Bandit Regina calling her just  _ Emma _ . She shook her head. “Technically we can still call him Dark Hook. Dark Killian was how we referred to the original.” _

_ “Okay,” Emma nodded. “So, he’s with Emma Jones right now. I don’t know what he wants with her though because he’s still trying to get  _ me _ . He wants to restore the path that would have made him my soulmate.” _

_ “But that would mean killing me,” Dark Swan said, taking a seat on a nearby couch, followed immediately by a defensive Evil Queen. _

_ “Yeah,” Emma sighed, sitting across from them. “But I’m not going to do that. And anyway, I think it’s too late for that possibility, right?” Dark Swan nodded. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. But unfortunately, even if Dark Hook knows that, he’s still determined to break the soulmate bond between Regina and I, and I can’t let that happen.” The Evil Queen and Dark Swan exchanged a smirk, and Emma shook her head. “No, it’s not like that, you know. I just need to save her.” _

_ “Right,” Dark Swan laughed. _

_ “Whatever,” Emma waved her hand. “The fact of the matter is that I need to save Regina from the darkness, and I need to  _ not _ become Hook’s soulmate  _ ever _ , and honestly, we need to just take care of him, because I think he’s got something planned.” _

_ “Take care of him, huh?” the Evil Queen grinned, a fireball already dancing in her hand. _

_ Dark Swan swatted the hand with the fireball down, causing the Queen to pout. “What do you think he’s going to do? Dark One or not, he only  _ just _ obtained magic. There isn’t much he’d be able to do, with intent anyway. He could do a lot of damage without meaning to because he can’t control his magic, but as far as actual plans go, I wouldn’t be concerned.” _

_ Emma frowned. “That’s true, but why would he make threats he couldn’t actually make happen? He said he would take my memories, or he would kill Regina.” Dark Swan opened her mouth as if about to speak, but Emma rambled on before she could. “But, you’re right, He’s only had magic for like, a day. And anyway, I don’t think he  _ could _ kill Regina. She has more experience with magic, and you know, darkness,” Emma added, gesturing at the Evil Queen. “And the memory thing…there’s no way he would be able to do something so advanced, right?” _

_ “Probably not, but there are precautions we could take if that would make you feel better.” _

_ “Like what?” _

_ Dark Swan shrugged, “I don’t know. We could extract your memories in case he does find a way to get them. That way you’d be able to get them back.” _

_ “Like there aren’t other ways to get them back,” Emma scoffed, rolling her eyes when the other two looked at her, almost offended. “What? I’ve dealt with that a few times before. And I’m the  _ savior _ , remember?” _

_ “Emma, you already know this realm doesn’t work like yours, so you need to stop thinking about it like it somehow will anyway.” _

_“Called out,” the Evil Queen laughed to the side, and Emma gaped at her, affronted. She _had been_ called out, but the woman didn’t need to gang up against her._

_ As if reading her mind again, Dark Swan shook her head, “We’re not ganging up on you. We just need to make sure you understand what you’re dealing with. It’s going to be easier to help you and for you to save Your Regina if you understand everything.” _

_ “Okay,” Emma said, her arms crossing tight across her chest. “So tell me about it. What don’t I understand.” _

_ “You’re not the only Emma Swan here, and you’re definitely not the only one who’s a savior. I’m not saying that doesn’t mean  _ anything _ , but it definitely doesn’t carry the same weight it does in your realm. Like the Darkness for instance. In the linear realms, there is one Dark One. In this realm there are countless Dark Ones.” _

_ “Wait,” Emma stopped her, “Please tell me there isn’t a Dark One Robin.” _

_ “I can’t tell you that,” Dark Swan said, fighting a laugh. _

_ “No way. Dark One Mary Margaret?” _

_ “She comes over for wine sometimes,” the Evil Queen told her, laughing at Emma’s expression, shocked and disturbed. “But that isn’t important right now. We know it’s hard for you to grasp this realm, since you  _ are _ linear. Being linear isn’t inherently  _ bad _ , but it does affect the way you process information. That’s why you’re going to need help from someone from here. Like us.” _

_ “Okay,” Emma nodded. “I’m trusting you guys…for some reason,” she added, acknowledging their identities as she soaked in the realization of exactly who’s helping her. She laughed, “You know, if I’d told myself last year that I’d be accepting the help of me as a Dark One and the Evil Queen, I wouldn’t have believed it.” _

_ “Linear thinking,” the Evil Queen pointed out.” _

_ “Right,” Emma said. “So you think we should extract my memories, but what else should we do as a precaution? How do we find and save My Regina? Is there anything else we should be worried about?” _

_ “Well,” Dark Swan started, “I’m concerned that Dark Hook might try to make Emma Jones a Dark One.” _

_ “What? Why?” _

_ “He wanted you to be his soulmate, didn’t he? He pushed you to take on the darkness?” _

_ “Yeah, but what does that—”  _

_ “Don’t you think he would be stupid enough to recreate it?” _

_ Emma started to argue, but she only opened her mouth before she realized how true that was. “Yeah, you’re right. He would. But would that really be so bad? It would probably just mean that he would leave me and Regina alone. He would have his own Emma to boss around,” she shuddered. “And it’s fine because she clearly  _ wants  _ to be with him, for whatever reason.” _

_ “That may be, but he still isn’t supposed to be here. If he goes back with you, he’ll take her with him, and then what will you do? Three Dark Ones aren’t meant to exist in your realm.” _

_ “So then we just don’t take him back with us,” Emma said. “Easy Peasy.” _

_ “I’m not so sure it’s that easy,” Dark Swan said. “We’ve never had anyone meant to be linear try to stay here for an extended time. Hell, we’ve never had anyone linear here at all until now. This could all blow up in all of our faces. Who’s to say your time here doesn’t have an expiration date? What if he’s sent back whether anyone wants him to be or not? Emma Jones wouldn’t go with him since she’s not linear, and if she did, it’s possible she could push you out of your timeline and send you back here. We don’t know how your realm will be affected by this, and you’re going to have to keep that into consideration.” _

_ The entire concept of this realm was starting to give Emma a headache, but she didn’t want to let on that she was having a hard time grasping any of this, so she continued to nod as she formed her next thought. “I’m still not sure why we ended up here. Or why Regina ended up here, I mean.” _

_ “I’m not sure that I can answer that,” Dark Swan responded, her lips tilting into a deep frown. “Usually people only show up here because that version of them was knocked out of the linear timeline, but it doesn’t seem like that was what happened.” _

_ “Unless…” Emma started, but she quickly stopped talking. She couldn’t comprehend the concept of a non-linear realm or multiple possibilities coexisting, and she knew that anything she added would just sound stupid. _

_ “What?” the Queen prompted. Emma could tell by the look in both their eyes that they weren’t going to her stay silent. _

_ “It’s just… Before she took on the darkness, she told me something. She said  _ ‘There’s a defining moment that determines who your soulmate will be…I think this is it.’ _ Now, I know I don’t really  _ get _ this realm, but I’d think that something like that would be a little more…I don’t know,  _ disruptive _ to a linear realm. More than say, whether to eat cereal for breakfast or just have coffee. Not to mention, the weight of  _ knowing _ what decision has what outcome… Could she be here because we broke the rules?” _

_ “Maybe.” Dark Swan answered. “It could have to do with your soulmate threads.” _

_ “Our what?” _

_ “Soulmates become tethered to each other. In linear realms, they tend to be formed already, from birth. It’s fixed, more or less, and people’s lives form around that connection and others. The same way you only get one family, and each day is its own. Your soulmate should be another factor like those, unwavering and singular.” _

_ “But?” Emma prompted. _

_ “ _ But _ you and Regina are different. Your soulmate tie wasn’t fixed.” _

_ “It is now though, right?” _

_ The two women exchanged a glance that Emma didn’t like the looks of. “Since she ended up here, we aren’t sure. There are ways to find out, so that’ll be another thing we’ll be doing along with extracting your memories.” _

_ “Wait, so you’re saying Regina and I might not even be soulmates anymore?” _

_ “That isn’t exactly what I’m saying—” _

_ “Then what are you saying?” Emma demanded. She could feel her heart sinking down to her stomach. Could this have been why True Love’s Kiss had no affect? Are they only soulmates in a linear realm? Why couldn’t they have just all stayed back in Storybrooke, where Emma would have been  _ certain _ that she and Regina were soulmates, Dark One or not?  _

_ “I’m just saying that it’s a possibility…” Dark Swan told her, and Emma scoffed, suddenly angry. _

_ “ _ It’s a possibility, _ ” she mocked. “Well, what  _ isn’t _ ? I mean, we’re  _ literally _ in the Realm of Possibilities. How are we supposed to plan anything if we dwell on the fact that anything could happen?” She rolled her eyes as she stood to leave. “I thought you two could actually be helpful to me, but I guess I was wrong.” She took a few quick steps toward the door, but Dark Swan was in front of her before she could reach it. _

_ “Emma. Listen to me,” she began, her voice low in warning. “Anything could happen in  _ your _ realm. You say ‘anything can happen’ there because there are possibilities, but you don’t know which will come to fruition.  _ Here _ , it isn’t that ‘anything can happen.’ It’s that  _ everything will happen _ . Do you understand what that means?” _

_ Shocked, Emma shook her head once. “No,” she answered, her voice merely a quiet tremble. _

_ “All the possibilities are happening at any given time. New versions of us appear every day. This realm is  _ infinite _ , and you aren’t meant to be in it. You and all the other linear people from your realm are the reason we’re all here. Why do you think there isn’t another Dark Regina? One that isn’t  _ yours _ ? If you’d become the Dark One in her place, I wouldn’t exist here, at least not until you weren’t the Dark One anymore. If Linear Hook obtained the darkness from a version of him that was never meant to be linear, it means the rules are breaking and walls that shouldn’t exist are falling down. You can’t win this alone. You can’t fight an infinite power with a linear mind and win.” _

_ Emma felt the hot tears in her eyes early enough to blink them back. She turned away from Dark Swan, looking once more at the door.  _ Where was Regina? Was she nearby? Was she safe? What would happen to her if she ran into Dark Hook? _ The thoughts didn’t stop, and each one came with a new flood of worries. She couldn’t lose Regina. _

_ “What would you do to save her?” Dark Swan suddenly asked, and Emma turned to face her. _

_ “Anything.” _

_ Dark Swan nodded once, a small smile on her face.  _

_ “Everything,” Emma corrected, smiling back. “I’m ready.” _

**xxx**

_ Emma was lying on a giant four poster bed, both the Evil Queen and Dark Swan looking down at her. They’d explained that she would only be out for a moment during the memory extraction, and that it would take every moment she experienced in the realm, including any remaining moments she’d be experiencing until her return. All her memories would then be preserved into a dreamcatcher.  _

_ It wasn’t until just before she blacked out that she discovered she could only retrieve them in the Realm of Possibilities. “Are you fucking kidding me?” was the last thing she said before passing out. But as promised, she was awake again in a short time.  _

_ She felt groggy, as if it had been  _ days _ . “Eat this,” Dark Swan said, passing her a bear claw. “It’ll help. I’m going to get you some water.” She left the room quickly, and Emma frowned as she readjusted on the bed. _

_ “Is she okay?” she asked, looking over to the Evil Queen who had just perched herself on the edge of the bed to face Emma.  _

_ “We’ll explain when she gets back. Try not to worry about it.” _

_ Emma nodded, not sure that would be possible. It didn’t help that the only other thing she could get herself to think about was all the things that must have happened on this bed between the two women taking care of her—between her and Regina—and for the next few minutes before Dark Swan returned, Emma’s thoughts became a vicious cycle of death and sex, both featuring Regina and herself. She was relieved when the pattern was broken by a glass of water and a curious and faintly amused Dark Swan. _

_ “What did you tell her?” she asked the Queen, a lecherous twinkle in her eyes. _

_ Emma groaned. “Okay, can you seriously read my mind?” _

_ “No,” Dark Swan laughed. “That would be ridiculous.” _

_ “Because talking to an alternate of myself  _ isn’t _ ,” Emma muttered. “What?” she asked at Dark Swan’s raised brows. “I’ll never get used to this. But it doesn’t matter, can you please tell me whatever it is you haven’t said yet? You’re just as easy to read as I am; I know something’s wrong.” _

_ “Nothing’s wrong,” the Queen insisted, her voice oddly comforting despite the woman’s reputation. “While your memories were being extracted, I went out to see if I could find out any answers.” _

_ “And?” Emma prompted, too curious for patience. _

_ “ _ And _ ,” the woman continued, “I didn’t find them.” Emma couldn’t help but slump over in disappointment. “ _ But _ ,” the woman started again, and Emma perked up just slightly, “I think I know where you can find them.”  _

_ At this, Dark Swan rolled her eyes, “Regina,” she said in a low voice, addressing the Queen directly. Emma blinked in surprise, not having heard either of them use each other’s actual names. It made sense that they would call each other Emma and Regina other than Dark Swan and Evil Queen, but something about it struck Emma deeply. She wanted what they had. “You know I don’t trust him. He hasn’t even been here that long and he already thinks he knows everything,” she scowled. “Plus, he’s technically  _ Her _ Regina’s predecessor, so—” _

_ “Wait, are you talking about Rumplestiltskin?” Emma interrupted. Both women looked at her. _

_ “Yeah,” Dark Swan confirmed, her voice flat. “Essentially it’s the Dark One version of him that never stopped being the Dark One. He’d be the best to talk to because he spent the most time being linear, and should have all the memories as the Rumplestiltskin from your realm, since they were the same person for a while.” _

_ Emma frowned, “Will this ever stop being so confusing?” _

_ “Probably not.” _

_ “Wait, would this mean that there’s some Emma out there who has all my memories up until the sacrifice?” _

_ Dark Swan smirked, “You’re looking at one of them.” _

_ “ _ One _ of them?” Emma asked, flabbergasted. _

_ “You really don’t pick up on much do you?” the Queen laughed. She looked over to Dark Swan when the other woman didn’t laugh with her. “Babe?” _

_ “Emma Jones is the other one, with the closest memories to yours. Obviously though, they aren’t exactly the same if she’s as into Killian as she is, but they are fairly close. If any two alternates were identical, one of them just wouldn’t exist.” _

_ “I wish she didn’t exist,” Emma scowled. _

_ “You should be glad she does, so you  _ can _ . Does that make sense?” _

_ “Not really,” Emma sighed, “But that’s okay. I’m going to find Rumple and talk to him. I’m guessing I should save my brain power,” she laughed as she prepared to leave, turning at the door one last time. “So, my memories. If something happens, how will you know? And how will you get them back to me?” _

_ “Magic,” they both answered simultaneously.  _ Of course _ . How could Emma have forgotten about  _ magic _ . _

_ “We’d go into more detail, but, you know,” Dark Swan tapped her head, “brain power.” _

_ “Right,” Emma laughed. “So where can I find Rumple?” _

_ “Just summon him like you did me. It’s going to work with most of the Dark Ones here, except Your Regina.” She paused, “I’m not sure about Hook though…” _

_ Emma rolled her eyes, “It works on him, too, for whatever reason. Maybe since he took the alternate’s place?” _

_ “I’m not sure,” Dark Swan frowned, but if I were you, I wouldn’t summon him again. _

_ “Hell, no,” Emma answered, her laughter more uneasy this time. “But I might summon you, if I have to.” Dark Swan nodded, understanding. “Bring Your Regina with you, okay?” she said, nodding at the Queen, a soft blush spreading on her face. _

_ “I will,” she answered, turning to smile at the Queen and place a soft kiss on her lips. _

_ With that, Emma smiled back at them just before closing the door behind her. _

**xxx**

_ Setting back out into the realm didn’t worry Emma as much as it had before. She knew where help was if she needed it (saying her own name three times in a row was a precaution she wouldn’t forget), she had some answers (even if they weren’t the ones she was looking for), and the comfort of knowing Dark Hook might not be as dangerous as he had claimed to be. Not to mention, a part of her believed that no matter where she was, Bandit Regina was out there looking out for her. _

_ Having direction was another comfort to Emma as she made her way through the trees. It may not be the kind of direction that kept her from feeling lost in this strange place, but it was the kind of direction that told her what she needed to do. Instead of aimlessly wandering with no plan, she had a place to step, hopefully moving in the right direction. _

_ She planned to summon Rumple when she’d reached a discreet area, far enough from where Dark Swan and the Evil Queen were that they wouldn’t need to be dragged into this, but not so isolated that she’d never be found if something bad were to happen. When she was ready, she started to chant, “Rumplestilskin, Rumplestilskin, Rumplestilskin,” her eyes closed once more. _

_ She heard the giggle before she saw the Dark One himself, and when she finally opened her eyes, she was surprisingly relieved to see Gold with his crocodile skin. “What can I do for you, dearie?” _

_ “I have some questions…” Emma began, and the man giggled again.  _

_ “I’ll bet you do. How do you like living on the non-linear side of things?” _

_ Emma grunted. “Honestly? It makes my head hurt. I need to get out of here.” Rumple opened his mouth, but Emma held up her hand before he could speak. “If you’re about to tell me you can help me get out of here  _ for a price _ , save it. I have questions about something else.” _

_ “You want to know about the soulmate tether,” he said more than he asked, and Emma could only nod. Before she could verbalize anything, the two of them were disappearing in a cloud of smoke, appearing in a dark room that reminded Emma of a wide pit in the middle of a large cave, only it felt warm, unlike the cold, dank feeling she would have associated with the visuals (or lack thereof) around her. _

_ “What is this place?” she murmured as she tried to look around and make out anything around her. She couldn’t. “Are we still in the—” _

_ “The Realm of Possibilities, yes,” he answered. His voice was suddenly more serious, Gold-like, without the playful hitches Emma associated with the Enchanted Forest version of Dark One Rumple. “When I became the Dark One in linear time, this is where I appeared. Right here in this very room.” _

_ “Room?” _

_ “More or less,” he said. Emma couldn’t see, but she imagined him shrugging. “It’s difficult, if not impossible, to explain an intangible space.”  _

_ “Intangible?” Emma asked, continuing her streak of one word questions, blinking as she tried to take in her surroundings. Surely there was something there. How could it be intangible? Her shoe scuffed the ground, but no sound was made. With that realization, the silence suddenly became too loud, and Emma felt the urge to speak, just to end it, but she didn’t know what to say. _

_ “It’s essentially cerebral. We’re in a physical location, but what we see is in our mind.” _

_ His answer had Emma’s mind reeling, which didn’t make sense since she couldn’t see anything. “Okay,” she laughed once, unamused, “I know I’m not the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree, but if I’m seeing the inside of my mind, I figured there would be  _ something _ . I don’t see a damn thing.” _

_ Rumple giggled, and Emma shuddered when she didn’t hear an echo. This place really gave her the wiggins. “You don’t know what you’re supposed to be seeing. When you know what you’re looking for, you’ll see it.” _

_ A few beats passed. “What? I don’t—” _

_ “Ask me some of your questions,” he told her. “You’ll see it when you ask the right ones. Regina did.” _

_ “She did?” Emma blurted, “How do you know?” _

_ “I was here to help her when she arrived, of course. Almost like I’m helping you.” _

_ “Almost?” _

_ “You’re not a Dark One, dearie,” he explained. Emma nodded. “What are your questions? Try to be as specific as you can.” _

_ “Okay,” Emma said, chewing on her lip as she thought of the best place to start. “Why did Regina come here?” Nothing happened. Everything was as dark as ever. She heard a faint tut from next to her, and she took that to mean she needed to go in a different direction. “Why did you bring me here?” she tried. She expected nothing to happen, but she was surprised when she could suddenly make out a series of colorful lines, faintly glowing as they criss-crossed in the space around them.  _

_ Rumple giggled, “Very good.” He didn’t need to prompt Emma any further, and she gasped when the thought occurred to her. _

_ “Are these soulmate tethers?” When she asked the lines brightened in confirmation, and Emma could make out several different colors—yellow, gray, red, to name a few of the brighter ones—she just couldn’t see where any of them led. “How do I know which lines mean what?” At that question, nothing changed, and Emma couldn’t help but feel disappointed. “Do they all have to do with me?” she tried again, and a few of them flickered, identifying themselves. “Do any of them have to do with Regina?” she asked, and the same thing happened. _

_ The space was better lit now, and Emma took advantage of that to look around, using the light from the tethers to observe this  _ intangible space _ . It really looked like a void, and Emma couldn’t look down without becoming dizzy. She glanced over at Rumple, watching her with amusement.  _

_ “I’m not sure what I’m looking for,” Emma commented, her eyes shifting quickly to the space where her feet were before looking back up again, “or if I can walk here.” _

_ “You can walk just as well here as you can anywhere else,” he told her. “I’m not saying you won’t trip on your own two feet, but feel free to explore a little bit.” The Dark One giggled again, and Emma shot him a look. Regardless of his jab at her clumsiness, she took a hesitant step forward, following the yellow tether toward where it looked like its light had been dimmed. _

_ As she approached the area, she noticed a few tethers that collided with the yellow, colliding in a tangled mess or dimmed color. The spaces where the colored tethers touched was greyed, just like one of the lines Emma had first noticed. It grazed just under the space where the yellow and purple lines met in the tangle, but after some observation, the tangle didn’t seem to be caused by the purple and yellow tethers, but by a thicker, darker tether—it’s blue-black color reminding her of the darkness, coiling around Regina much like this line chaotically wrapped itself around the colorful lines in front of her. She swore she saw it move as it slithered around the purple tether, tightening down the length as far as she could see. _

_ “The darkness,” she muttered. “The purple is Regina, isn’t it?” The light of the line brightened. “And the yellow…Emma surmised. “Is that me?” The light started to fade, and Emma frantically racked her brain for the answers. She thought about the yellow lights in neverland, leading her to Regina and not so subtly clueing Emma in to who her soulmate was. “The yellow is our soulmate tether,” she said, beaming when the lights brightened.  _

_ “Correct,” Rumple spoke, and Emma jumped as she turned to face him, not expecting him to be so close. _

_ “I didn’t know you were still right behind me. It’s hard to tell without footsteps,” she said, fending off embarrassment. “Anyway, I’m guessing that the grey is mine and Hook’s?” When she asked, the string didn’t brighten, and Emma second guessed, “Or not…” _

_ “You’re correct. That’s as bright as it can go.” Emma’s brow creased. “It’s a dying tether,” he explained. “This realm may not be linear, but it recognizes the tethers as linear. It knows when certain possibilities pass, and which connections fade.”  _

_ Emma stepped over the yellow tether to follow a little ways along the purple, harder to make out with the darkness curling around it. She could see it merging with other lines in the distance, and she wondered what those meant. How many lines would she be able to see in this seemingly infinite space? Were there some she didn’t have access to? These questions she didn’t ask, not wanting to distract from the questions she thought mattered more.  _

_ “So, Regina’s tether to Robin?” _

_ “It stopped glowing a long time ago,” he answered. “But it was there.” _

_ “How does that work?” _

_ “Regina and Robin were soulmates, but that possibility passed. If she’d gone into the pub, she would have her soulmate. But when she walked away, the entire course of her life shifted. The person she was when she was tethered to Robin Hood no longer exists in this reality, and in its place, a new soulmate tie started to form. To you.” _

_ Emma frowned, “I don’t think I was even born yet.” _

_ “Time is a mysterious creature,” Rumple smirked. _

_ “So is soulmate magic,” Emma sighed. “Why did Regina know about Hook and I’s soulmate tie but I didn’t? He was in Neverland when I used the pixie dust. Why didn’t it show me both of them if fate hadn’t intervened yet?” _

_ “Soulmate magic connects people differently across realms. For instance, the Enchanted Forest is a place of tradition and monogamous and heteronormative True Love, which defines the way soulmate magic runs there. Same with Neverland. Neverland is a place that leads people to accept truths about themselves. Soulmate magic led you to one person in Neverland, which only meant it would be more telling about your own desires than about your future.” _

_ “So if I had been  _ Emma Jones _ ,” Emma started to ask, saying her alternate’s name with disdain, “Gray, dusty lights would have led me to Hook in Neverland?” _

_ “Probably,” Rumple grinned. “You know, this whole conversation feels unusually familiar to me,” he muttered. Emma ignored him, still trying to understand. _

_ “When did Regina find out we were soulmates? Or,  _ could be _ soulmates?” _

_ “Ah,” Rumple suddenly said, “That’s right. I had this same conversation with the two of them in Storybrooke, back when I was still in linear time.” At Emma’s blank look, he followed up with, “Since I’m the version of myself that never stopped being the Dark One. There hadn’t been a Dark One Rumplestiltskin in this realm since I first became the Dark One. When the darkness left me in linear reality, the Dark One alternate of me came back here. Permanently.” Emma blinked. “But enough about me, dearie…. Regina found out about your soulmate connection after the missing year, shortly after everyone’s memories were restored. Hook and Regina were both led to you—Regina with a yellow path, and Hook with grey.” _

_ “What’d you tell them?” _

_ “I said that their realm, the Land Without Magic, was divided, full of choices. Soulmate magic led them both to you because one of them  _ will _ be her soulmate, but both of them  _ could _ be. You’ve learned well by now, everyone’s life is made of possibilities, but only one ever sees the light of day.” Emma nodded. “It would only take one action to lead fate in one direction of the other.” _

_ “The sacrifice,” Emma said, remembering again what Regina told her before the darkness swooped down from the sky and took Regina with it. “That was cruel of fate,” Emma commented, really thinking about what that decision meant, the price Regina had to pay. “You’re always talking about prices…” she started, her eyes on Rumple. She could tell he knew where she was going with this. “Was being taken by the darkness a price Regina had to pay to  _ be my soulmate _ ?” The words sounded even more ridiculous out loud, but the yellow burned brighter than ever, and Emma could make out where it went into the tangle—right through the middle of the darkness, llinked with the purple tether. _

_ “Sacrifice determines soulmates,” Rumple told her. “For you and Killian to be soulmates, it would have been something you wanted, to be with him. Emma Jones sacrificed herself for Regina to save her, but also to be with Killian.” Emma shuddered. “Of course, that never  _ really _ happened. Regina and Robin? Regina knew what she’d be sacrificing if she followed the path of being his soulmate—she didn’t want to make that sacrifice, so she didn’t enter the pub, so they never became soulmates. Each of those would have carried a price. You would have taken on the darkness as your price. Regina would have forfeited her magic, her wealth, and her family.” _

_ “But for us? For me and Regina?” _

_ “Regina took on the darkness. That was the price she paid in order for you to be tethered to her instead of Hook, and it worked because you made a sacrifice as well by not saving her. It hurts you to know you let that happen to her, does it not?” _

_ “Yeah,” Emma softly admitted. “So, this answers a lot, but I don’t know how it’s supposed to help me or Regina. You said she saw this, right?” _

_ “Not exactly,” Rumple answered. “Remember I told you, you see what’s in your mind. Your mind will show you what it needs to see. Regina saw what she needed, and you will, too.” Emma spun toward him, ready to argue about how she didn’t know what else to look for, but he stops her with a look. “The answer,” was all he said. _

_ Determined once more, Emma looked down at the tangle of black around their yellow tether and Regina’s own purple line. She wasn’t entirely sure what the purple represented other than Regina herself, but she couldn’t take her eyes off the small way the yellow and the purple collided, two connected loops connecting them almost irreversibly. Neither color continued past where they were linked together. _

_ It was the only place untouched by the darkness that entrapped the connection, though the darkest cord seemed to cling tight on the yellow, like it needed to hold on to one color to spread down the second. “Carrying the darkness is the price,” Emma murmured to herself, watching as the purple flashed violently, desperate to be freed from the dark tether holding it back. Emma swallowed hard, her eyes on the place where the darkness fused itself to the yellow tether. “I have to cut our soulmate tie, don’t I?” _

_ For a moment, Rumple didn’t answer her, and Emma thought his silence was all the confirmation she needed, even if she couldn’t entirely wrap her head around why cutting the yellow tether would solve anything. She figured it was something complicated, so she didn’t think about it too hard. She thought about how the darkness was only in Regina because she and Emma were tethered as soulmates. She thought about how much she loved Regina, and how she wanted nothing more than to save her. Soulmates or not, Emma would never give up on her. She made a promise. _

_ Emma hesitated when she realized she didn’t know how to cut a line that probably wasn’t corporeal, and that’s when she felt something cool in her hand. She didn’t have time to ask when Rumple appeared with an explanation and further confirmation for what Emma needed to do. “The shears of destiny,” he said. “It’s the only way to break a tether. Only some can use them. If they appear in your presence, you’ll be able to use them. Whether or not you use them is your choice to make.” _

_ She was about to ask what would happen if she chose not to, but when she turned to face the Dark One again, he was gone, and she was alone. _

_ Taking a deep breath, she looked at the fading light of the grey line, running parallel to the yellow several meters away. Surely cutting the tether between her and Regina wouldn’t reignite the tie between her and Hook. the sacrifice had already been made, after all, and even if Emma became Hook’s official soulmate, she would never let it dictate her life. She’d cut the gray tether, too, if need be.  _

_ Confident in her decision, she stood in front of the yellow line, crouching so that the tether was almost eye level. She held the shears up, opening them and placing them so they’ll cut the spot where the darkness attached itself to the yellow tether, just before both connect to the purple. Before closing the shears, Emma couldn’t help but wonder if this would be painful or if Regina would feel it. She wondered if the darkness would leave Regina entirely or if there would be more she needed to do to expel it. She wondered where it would go. She wondered if this was the right decision or if Regina would forgive her for doing this—if she would forgive  _ herself _ for doing this. _

_ All that in mind, she closed the shears and heard the snip of the tether. _

_ Everything went dark. _


	8. Chapter 8

_ However much time had passed since Regina was consumed by the darkness was immeasurable. It was namely due to moments where she would black out entirely, but it didn’t help that she couldn’t ground herself in a realm as complicated as the one she had ended up in. There was no placing any context, as she was constantly running into versions of people she knew, but none that could help her. _

_ An Evil Snow who wanted her locked up, a dainty Emma that ran away from a secondary Emma that shot arrows for fun, a Robin who kept insisting they were soulmates because Tinkerbell led him to her in a pub. She’d had more than enough of everyone, and it was too easy to use dark magic to threaten them to leave, or to act on it without consideration. _

_ There were times when she could control herself, remembering why she was in this situation and that Emma was going to save her, but more often than not, the darkness was what controlled her every move. She couldn’t stop it, and she was starting to worry she would never want to. _

_ On some level, becoming a Dark One was everything she had ever wanted when she started embracing her magic, using it to get what she wanted without regard for other people’s feelings, using it for _ evil _ (it was how she earned her nickname after all). The kind of magic she now possessed made everything painless. She couldn’t be hurt, physically or emotionally, and both factors were what made it so easy to give in. It was as if there was no consequence—not for her anyway. _

_ Other than the disorientation, there seemed to be no down side to being a Dark One, and even though a part of her still wanted to be saved, she wasn’t ready to let her addiction to dark magic go again, especially if this brand of it saved her from pain. _

_ But then again, there was Emma. _

_ Regina thought about her often—wondering if her darkness made it impossible for them to remain soulmates, even if this was the original deal, wondering if Emma would somehow still end up with Hook, wondering if Emma knew where she was or how to save her, wondering if Emma could still accept her even with the darkness inside of her. _

_ Thinking of her soulmate was the only thing that grounded her. It was the only thing that made her feel anything and the only solace she had when she would lose control of herself. Emma was the light in her darkness. _

_ She estimated that it had been a week since she became the Dark One, and she had only seen _ Her _ Emma twice. _

_ The first time, she had been freshly imbued with darkness, and her memory on that moment was hazy. She had tried harder than anything to stay focussed, to use Emma’s eyes to bring her back to reality, but her efforts had been fruitless, and she had ended up fleeing, just to spare Emma from anything worse she could have done to her. _

_ The second time had been much clearer. _

_ They had never kissed before, and Regina was overwhelmed by the intensity of it—fueled by years of longing and desperation. It wasn’t just that Regina was desperate for Emma, but that she was desperate to be saved. She had no idea if True Love’s Kiss would work in this realm, but if there was any magic she could use to make it work, she would pour every last ounce of it into the kiss. She whined against Emma’s lips, willing the blonde’s light magic to cancel out her dark, but nothing seemed to change. _

_ Despite the looming dark magic inside of her, Regina didn’t want to pull away, and she gripped Emma’s arms tightly as she pulled the woman impossibly close. Emma whispered Regina’s name against her lips, and she felt so lightheaded that she had to pull away. If she became too distracted, she might lose control. _

_ Emma’s eyes were wide as they searched Regina’s, looking for any sign that True Love’s Kiss had expelled the darkness. She may not have known, but Regina did. The darkness still pounded through her veins, threatening to unleash itself on the savior in defense. _

_ “I’m sorry,” Regina whispered before she disappeared. _

_ She had to let Emma go. _

_ She needed to keep her safe. _

_ She thought back to that moment, wondering if there was anything she could have done differently. It didn’t seem likely, but she couldn’t have known what would have happened to her had she stayed, and now that she’d left, she didn’t know how she could revisit the scenario or if it would even be safe. _

_ As far as anyone else from her reality went, she wasn’t convinced she had seen any of them until the other day when she saw Hook lurking through the woods, muttering under his breath about finding a way for he and Emma to still be together. _

_ As curious as she had been, Regina decided not to follow him. Rather, she retraced his steps, wondering if it would lead her back to anything familiar. She’d decided already, it was more dangerous for her to _ not _ know where Emma’s base location was than to know exactly where it was. She didn’t want to come across anyone by accident, and she would do what she needed to do to stay away. _

_ She had only been walking for half an hour when she made something out in the distance in the middle of a clearing. What looked like a body on the ground stood out like a sore thumb against the lush grass, and Regina slowed as she got closer, worried about who she would find or if someone would appear and blame her for whatever had occurred here. She was a Dark One, after all, and the scene looked bad. _

_ Even from meters away, the blood was evident and the stillness of the environment had never felt so suffocating. Regina hardly breathed as she made her way closer, desperate to know who that body belonged to, or if they were somehow still alive. _

_ From the looks of it, she doubted they could be. _

_ She wasn’t surprised to find that the victim had no pulse, but she _ was _ surprised to see a familiar face. The body was Hook’s. _

_ Remaining crouched at his side, she examined the man before her. Something about him was _ off _ —not quite what she remembered him to look like, but she couldn’t place it. Maybe she was just remembering wrong—it wasn’t as though she paid him any mind anyway—but then she noticed it. His hook was a sleek black, nothing like the obnoxious silver he had previously sported, and from there, she saw the man before her completely differently. _

_ The magic within her stirred, uneasy, and she stood abruptly, looking around for any signs of trouble. This Killian had been a Dark One, and someone had killed him. _

_ She didn’t know how it was possible—she didn’t understand the rules of this realm, and for all she knew, killing a Dark One was as easy as killing just about anyone else. Could someone be eliminating all the Dark One’s in the realm? Could they be trying to frame her? _

_ Anything was possible, and Regina knew she couldn’t stay here any longer. _

_ Using magic as transportation had been something Regina hadn’t been as confident in using so far. For one, she didn’t know the realm, and second, her magic had been out of control. The best way she could describe the adjustment to this new wave of dark, all powerful magic was driving a new car whose gas and brake pedals were drastically more sensitive than what you were used to. So she tried to refrain from using it as much as she could. _

_ But extreme situations called for more risky measures, and she made the decision to teleport herself anywhere that wasn’t _ here _ . She imagined a generic space in the middle of the woods, thinking vaguely of the time when she had bunked with Snow White in disguise by mistake. Any sort of shelter like that would be ideal, at least for another day. _

_ To her surprise, she ended up in a patch of woods eerily similar to the place she had been remembering, but she certainly couldn’t complain. There was a solid space to set up camp, and she planned to do exactly that before her mind started slipping again, giving into the darkness she tried so hard to fight off. _

_ Her second surprise of the moment started when she heard a sound to her left, a soft crunch of leaves as though someone was sneaking up on her, and she identified the noise as the last person she expected to see—herself, in Snow White’s Bandit attire. _

_ “It’s you,” the Bandit said, and Regina couldn’t help but frown at her. _

_ “You know who I am?” she asked, shaking her head immediately after. “I mean, you know which one I am?” _

_ “You’re the Dark One. Linear. Emma’s soulmate,” she finished in a whisper, but to Regina, it was the loudest thing she’d spoken. _

_ “You’ve seen Emma?” _

_ “I was with her earlier,” the bandit answered, and Regina couldn’t help the pang of jealousy she felt in her chest. It burned from her heart all the way down her arms, up to her eyes, and the next thing she knew, Bandit Regina had her pinned against the tree. “Don’t hurt me,” she muttered, and Regina nodded once, quick and nervous. _

_ “I’m sorry,” she said. “I’ve been trying to control it, but—” _

_ “I know,” the bandit said, slowly stepping back. Regina observed her closely for a moment, wondering how identical the two of them really were, and that was when she noticed the gash on the side of the bandit’s head. _

_ “Did I do that?” she asked, nodding towards the wound. _

_ Bandit Regina scoffed as she made her way to the space Regina had planned to make camp. They really must be similar, Regina thought. She was so preoccupied watching the bandit’s actions that she almost missed her answer. “No, you didn’t do this. But you can help me get it cleaned up,” she said with a friendly smile. _

_ “Do you trust all Dark Ones this much?” Regina asked as she took a seat on the fallen log the bandit had perched on and accepted the first aid kit she offered. The modern kit was an odd juxtaposition to the wilderness they were staying in, and the Dark One couldn’t stop her confused expression. _

_ “Spiderman Robin snatched this up for me a little while ago. He was the one who found me passed out in the woods. And generally, I _ did _ trust all Dark Ones this much, but after today, that will have to change.” _

_ Regina snorted, “I’m sorry, _ Spiderman Robin _ ?” _

_ Bandit Regina laughed with her. “It’s silly, I know. It’s what we call the alternate that would have grown up in the modern day of a land without magic. You know, fighting for the underdog and making the little things count. He’s a good guy but he’s about as boring as a plank of wood.” _

_ The bark of laughter that left Regina’s lips surprised her. She felt like she hadn’t laughed in ages, but it felt good. This was the most she’d felt like herself since becoming the Dark One, and she wanted to hold onto that for as long as she could. “I imagine most of them are,” she smiled at her alternate, but it faded as she thought back to their other topic of conversation. She took an antiseptic wipe to the bandit’s head, watching her fight the pain from showing on her face. “So,” she began, thinking of Dark Hook’s body abandoned in the grass, “a Dark One did this to you?” _

_ The Bandit rolled her eyes. “It’s complicated, but yes. He, uh—” she paused abruptly, her concerned eyes meeting Regina’s. “The Hook that came here with you did this.” _

_ At that, Regina could only laugh again. “He isn’t a Dark One.” Bandit Regina didn’t react to that. She only looked at her with that same face Regina is sure she makes when Henry tells her he already did his homework when she knows he didn’t. “But—” she wanted to argue, even without the evidence to do so. Hook couldn’t be a Dark One. He couldn’t be trusted with all that power, not to mention, he would have no idea how to use it. Other than using magic to be even more of a domineering toolbag, what would he get out of it? _

_ “Trust me, okay? He killed the Dark Hook that was already here. He took on his powers and his title. He’s the one who did this to me.” _

_ “But _ why _ ?” Regina asked. She couldn’t fathom anything Hook would want enough that he would need to be a Dark One to get, unless…“He wants to be with Emma, doesn’t he? He thinks that he can still tether them together as soulmates.” _

_ Bandit Regina shook her head. “Honestly, I’m just as confused about it as you are, but that seems like the best guess.” _

_ “He would be dumb enough to believe that, wouldn’t he?” Regina scoffed. “I really need to get my magic under control. If I can’t do that, I won’t be able to stop him.” _

_ “You’re going to try and stop him?” _

_ “You sound surprised…” Regina observed as she leaned back, making sure she had dressed the Bandit’s wound properly. _

_ The other woman released an unamused laugh. “Of course, I’m surprised. I thought you would rather stay out of it and find a way back home instead. You could just leave him here. He wouldn’t last long.” _

_ “I need to stop him if I want to save Emma,” Regina answered, and it was as simple as that. She knew she couldn’t run from her problems anymore, and she couldn’t hide from the power inside of her. She would have to embrace it in order to defeat it, accept the burden of the darkness to beat Killian, and own up to the price she paid for Emma in order to save her. _

_ “She’s trying to save you, too,” the Bandit said. “You know that, right?” _

_ Regina chuckled, her eyes on the ground, “It certainly is a habit of hers.” She went silent for a moment, thinking about Emma and realizing for the first time exactly how much she missed her. “It’s a habit of _ ours _ , really. We save each other.” _

_ “I know you do,” Bandit Regina said, standing suddenly and turning away. It was clear that something was upsetting her, but Regina didn’t ask what it was, instead letting the space between them fall silent until the Bandit spoke again. “I’m going to go collect a few things. You’ll be okay here?” _

_ “Yeah,” Regina nodded. “Of course.” They shared a smile and Regina watched as the Bandit made her way through the trees. She wasn’t entirely confident she would be okay here. Not because she was afraid of facing an imminent threat, but because she _ could be _ a threat. Even if she felt in control now, she could lose it again, or even put her alternate in harm’s way. _

_ She decided to set out on her own, potentially sparing Bandit Regina’s life in doing so, and find a way to track Hook. She wasn’t so concerned with how to eliminate him as she was with keeping him away from Emma, if he didn’t already have her. Did she know he was the Dark One? Surely she would, if she and the Bandit had been together when he attacked her, but then again, how does she know that Emma’s faring any better? _

_ She picked up her pace as she moved, feeling for any signs of nearby magic or listening for a sound that could trace her back to someone who might have seen either of them or had any useful information whatsoever. Unfortunately, the realm was as quiet as ever. _

_ The decision to teleport again to somewhere less isolated, and hopefully closer to where she had spotted Hook earlier, was both a smart choice and a poor decision. She definitely ended up somewhere that would serve her purposes better, but she lost time in the process, somehow going from disappearing in a cloud of smoke to waking up on the floor of a barn wasn’t an ideal situation, especially not when she saw her mother, aged and weary, pushing a mill cart through the now open doors of the barn. _

_ Scrambling to her feet, Regina made a run for it, apologizing as she darted past her mother’s alternate—a Cora who never made it out of her father’s business, never met Henry Sr, and never had Regina. The woman grumbled at her on the way out, criticizing her attire because _ of course she would _ , and Regina had to fight the urge to turn around and give Cora and her own ratty garments a piece of her mind. But she didn’t know how much time she had lost, and she didn’t plan to lose any more. _

_ The search for right Hook in this realm proved difficult, and it didn’t help that almost everyone Regina encountered was someone she absolutely didn’t want to talk to. It was almost as though this realm had been created to drive her mad, listening to all these alternates talk about “This is me if I’d never been murdered by the Evil Queen,” or “I’m the alternate from an eternally cursed Storybrooke,” or, even more annoying, “I’m the alternate who had the chance to be someone’s soulmate but they decided not to talk to me.” Fortunately, Regina hadn’t found that version of Robin yet, and she hoped she never would. _

_ Still, it was hard to say who would be helpful to her, and if anything, at least that version of Robin would do anything she asked him too. But then again, she did have Dark Magic after all. She might be able to use that on anyone, not that she wanted to. That sort of intention could quickly go south, and the only way Regina was going to go south was if someone gave her cardinal directions to find Emma or Hook. _

_ She felt more secure when she was in the isolating forests of the realm, and despite the obvious lack of answers those areas contain, she felt more confident in herself and in her control when there weren’t as many people around. Maybe she was too impatient to be trusted with dark magic or maybe she was just getting used to it, but as she walked through the silence, she rediscovered hope that everything could work out for the better. _

_ She carried that mindset with her as long as she could, but like with everything in her life so far, something got in her way. _

_ Regina suddenly doubled over, a ripple of stabbing pain shooting throughout her body. If she weren’t still on her feet, she would think her body had been split in two. It felt like torture, and she couldn’t help but think back to being strapped to that table and electrocuted by Greg. At that time, her magic hasn’t been as strong as it is now, and that was the one thing that made this situation, this pain, even worse. _

_ She couldn’t readily identify the cause, but it wasn’t something she could see—even the way the pain _ felt _ wasn’t entirely physical. It was like nothing she had ever experienced, and the feeling lingered long after she’d regained her composure. Her head buzzed and she knew that something had happened. _

_ Her mind had never been clearer, not since she became a Dark One, and all she could think about was Emma. _

_ She couldn’t keep herself away any longer. _

_ Worried that whatever she had experienced had something to do with Emma being in harm’s way, she made her way to where she had found Granny’s the other day. She’d known it was the one from Storybrooke (as opposed to the few she had discovered over the course of the week) because of how guarded it was. There were no lights, except on the inside hidden behind closed blinds, and the closed sign was always facing forwards. It was eerily quiet, and even if Regina knew how to get them all back to Storybrooke, she didn’t want to risk entering the establishment until she knew she could control the darkness. _

_ She had the same concern now, but next to her concern for Emma, they didn’t compare. _

_ She had to find her. _

**xxx**

_ Sometime in Regina’s journey, as her head cleared more and more, she started to think back on her time in the realm thus far. Everything started making a little more sense once she began piecing events together chronologically and remembering moments she previously had gaps in. For the most part, none of it was useful, but there was one thing she couldn’t take her mind off. _

_ Her initial arrival in the realm. _

_ The memory was still hazy, as if the cloud on her mind were being lifted in reverse, but she did remember the way the space was dark. It felt unnatural, like she couldn’t really be standing there. She remembered thinking the dark magic felt like a high she’d spent years chasing but didn’t want to completely surrender to. _

_ She remembered Rumple’s voice leading her to find what she was looking for—a bright yellow string crossing across the seemingly infinite space until it reached a faint purple, fighting to keep its light from going out. Rumplestiltskin had explained to her what it meant, but she couldn’t remember the words that left his mouth. Even now, they weren’t coming back to her, but it didn’t matter because the image was enough. _

_ She closed her eyes and willed herself to return, to see the strings again, and when she opened her eyes, she was surrounded by that same erie darkness, only faintly lit by the same dying glow, this time the color unidentifiable. Slowly, Regina made her way to the dim light, squinting so she could make out the color and what was causing the light’s strain. _

_ As soon as she realized that only some parts of the string were visible, she knew what she was looking at—the purple line, squeezed so tightly by the darkness coiling around it that it was almost grey. Regina shuddered and wondered if she could cut the strips of black away from what looked like her lifeline, but such a thing seemed too easy. _

_ As if on cue, she felt the cool metal against her hand of what she only assumed could be something designed to cut the strings that appeared in this room. She’d heard of such an item before, but had always doubted the idea that it existed. But now that Regina held the tool, knowing what it was beyond a shadow of a doubt, she felt the power it held and the confidence she needed to use it. _

_ She didn’t think when she dropped to her knees and started snipping away at the thick black strings, careful not to cut her own purple in the tangled mess before her. As she clipped, she pulled knots of black away from the purple string, growing brighter as she did so. The more she cut, the easier the black stands fell away, and the lighter Regina felt. Could she really be cutting the darkness out of herself? _

_ It felt like a weight was lifted from Regina’s shoulders as she watched the last of the black fall from her beaming purple line, and Regina stood, triumphant as she looked down at it along with the shears in her hand. They seemed to change form in her hand—she didn’t remember them being this size when she had used them a moment ago, but then again, she was starting to feel light headed, so maybe she just remembered incorrectly, just as she’d imagined the strings around her incorrectly. _

_ There had been a yellow one when she had first arrived, and she knew that for a fact because it was the one detail from the space around her that grounded her. She saw Emma in that bright yellow line, remembering following a yellow path to her soulmate—to Emma. _

_ But now as she looked at the space around her, she couldn’t find a yellow string, and she frowned as she spun in frantic circles and moved along the purple line, waiting for the yellow to appear, but it never did. _

_ But it _ should _ . _

_ It’s the last thing Regina thinks about before her world is surrounded by darkness once more. _

**xxx**

_ When Regina came to, she half expected to be in another barn, or maybe in a dungeon. Nothing about this realm was predictable, and given whatever she had just experienced in the cerebral space, and everything else that had occurred over the past few days, she was sure nothing could surprise her anymore. _

_ But of course, she wasn’t in a barn. She wasn’t in a dungeon. She wasn’t even in the middle of the woods. She was in _ Granny’s _ . And to say she was surprised was an understatement. _

_ She was on her feet in mere moments, her eyes darting around the room looking for a sign that this was _ Her Emma’s _ Granny’s—the one from home—or for anyone else in the diner, but it was empty. She could see the light beaming behind closed blinds, so she knew not everyone was asleep upstairs. She also knew the place wouldn’t be left empty—hadn’t Emma said that Henry never left the diner?—but right now, there wasn’t a soul in sight, nor was there movement. _

_ Regina sighed, hoping there might be a way to teleport herself into each Granny’s until she found the correct one. She felt more confidence in her magic since waking up. It felt the same as it had before coming here, and she was positive the darkness was no longer a part of her, successfully separated from her being with the shears. Using magic as transportation now only had one downside instead of two—she didn’t know the realm. But she _ did _ know Granny’s. _

_ She was about to start the process of jumping between establishments when she noticed something out of the corner of her eye behind the counter. Curious, she approached the space and peered around. When she did, she staggered backwards, her back hitting the wall and her hand coming to cover her mouth. Her eyes were filled with tears before she could even process the sight in front of her—Emma, unmoving on the ground, eyes open wide, jaw hanging slack, and Regina had to look away, choking back a sob. _

_She took a moment to calm down, acknowledging that there is a good chance that this Emma wasn’t _Her Emma, _but she couldn’t bear to turn around and analyze the body to figure it out. But she didn’t really need to. _

_ Her mind was racing with thoughts of the missing yellow string in the cerebral space, the tether’s disappearance, and the sudden pain Regina had experienced out of nowhere. It felt almost as though a part of her had died. _

_ And now, standing here with her back to a lifeless Emma, heart pulled straight from her chest, Regina thinks maybe it had. _

**xxx**

_ Emma peeled her eyes open, squinting at the bright light above her before shielding her eyes with her arm and eventually sitting up. The ground was hard beneath her, and she didn’t recognize where she was, but that didn’t surprise her. She had long accepted this realm would never be familiar to her, and she was more than okay with that. Hopefully it would only be a matter of time before they were able to leave. _

_ But first, she needed to find her way back to Granny’s. _

_ It was unfortunate that she had been dumb enough not to tell anyone what was going on, because they could already be out there _ doing something _ , or at least protecting themselves from an obvious threat who happened to know their exact location. Emma had been so worried about Hook going after Regina, that she hadn’t fully considered he would make everyone else targets. _

_ Rising to her feet, she jumped when she saw slight movement in front of her and something gently brushing past her hand. Her first reaction was to swat, thinking it was a bug, but once her hand hit nothing but air and she bent down to investigate, she realized that it was a piece of paper containing a set of coordinates. _

_ It was sketchy at best, but Emma couldn’t help the relief that washed over her. There was only one person Emma would expect to leave mysterious coordinates like this, and it was one of the people she trusted the most in this realm—Bandit Regina. It was enough incentive to have her following the coordinates with the compass she found stuffed in her pocket, no questions asked. _

_ As Emma followed the path towards her destination, she occasionally looked up from the compass to see if anything stood out. Since she was almost positive the coordinates came from Bandit Regina, she figured she would need to be looking extra close at everything in case the woman was leading her to her new hideout. Emma didn’t even consider for a moment that she was being led anywhere else _ by _ anyone else, so when she almost reached the destination and looked up only to see Granny’s in front of her, she nearly had to double take. _

_ Was this really where _ Her _ Granny’s was? Wouldn’t she have noticed she was walking through the area she’d explored most frequently since her arrival? Or was she too distracted to realize where she was? Regardless, she couldn’t ignore the sudden sense of dread that crashed over her like a wave, and she stopped where she was, adjusting her plan so that she was sneaking around the building and peering inconspicuously through a window on the side of the restaurant. _

_ At first she didn’t see anyone, and she nearly panicked until she realized she still wasn’t completely sure which Granny’s this was. Why hadn’t they marked it somehow? Had it even been suggested? Granny must have shot the idea down, knowing full well that she'd be having to deal with whatever happened to her business upon their return home, even though the inconvenience paled in comparison to what Emma might be facing. _

_ When she finally spotted movement, it was Hook emerging from the kitchen and pointing toward a cauldron Emma hadn’t noticed before as he stepped closer, turning as if giving someone behind him orders. At first, the blonde was too preoccupied with trying to recall if there had been a cauldron at Granny’s to notice the person who Killian was bossing around, but when she did, she gasped out loud, forcing her to duck below the window sill in case she was heard. _

_ Emma Jones was standing next to the cauldron when Emma looked back in, wringing her hands together and looking guilty. She must have messed up because Hook had started doing all the work that whatever they were up to required. Whatever that was, Emma didn’t know but it couldn’t be good. _

_ Her eyes shifted between the Dark One, her powerless looking alternate, and the cauldron that was starting to bubble in front of them. Emma couldn’t help but think about one of the only things she knew to be brewed in a cauldron—the Dark Curse. But why would Killian want to cast it? Would he even know how? _

_ The thought was laughable, and Emma was about to roll her eyes at how obnoxious Hook was, especially as a Dark One, when he suddenly reached his hand into Emma Jones’s chest and pulled out her heart in one swift motion. He didn’t hesitate before he crushed it into dust, wiping his hands together once the remains of her alternate’s heart were sprinkled into the cauldron, now producing a bright purple glow as the smoke started to billow over the cauldron’s edge. _

_ For a moment, all Emma could do was gape, frozen in place. It hadn’t been her own heart, and she had no respect for Hook whatsoever, but she still felt something in her snap as if her own heart had just been torn from her body. She had just watched herself die—killed by the man she was one action away from becoming tethered to for life. _

_ She saw red, and the next thing she knew, the door of Granny’s was slamming against the opposite wall. Hook looked up at her, grinned, and Emma stormed over to him, shoving him harshly. It hardly fazed him, and the Dark One’s twisted smile didn’t falter. “Don’t you fucking smile at me, you worthless pig.” _

That_ caused his smile to fade a little, but to Emma’s dismay, he chuckled and took a step closer to her. “Calm down, love.” _

_ “Call me that one more time, I dare you,” Emma fumed, not caring whether or not she could realistically take on a Dark One and win. “I saw what you did.” Emma’s eyes shift once to the potion, growing stronger by the minute. There wouldn’t be much time until the curse was cast, assuming her alternate’s heart was the final ingredient. _

_ “Oh, you mean…” Hook laughed, looking down at Emma Jones’s body for the first time since it collapsed at his feet. “It’s nothing,” he explained, waving his hand once and causing the body to disappear. “I just needed the ingredient. You know how things like this can be,” he explained, the back of his hand coming up to stroke Emma’s cheek. _

_ She smacked his hand away. “You killed me,” she growled. _

_ Hook laughed again, more annoyed this time, as though this was all some funny joke he shouldn’t have to explain. “I didn’t kill _ you _ , just that alternate of you. She was weak anyway. She was nothing.” _

_ Emma gawked at him. “Are you serious? _ She _ was the alternate you were supposed to love. _ She _ was the version of me that would have been your soulmate, who would have married you, who would have loved you…” She trailed off, shaking her head in disbelief. She wouldn’t rationalize this to him. It was a miracle he was able to use the heart at all—to cast the curse—clearly the man was incapable of love. _

_ But still, he protested. “If I didn’t love her—love _ you _ —I wouldn’t have been able to cast the curse with her heart.” He tried to smile with tenderness, reaching for Emma’s hand. “With _ your _ heart.” Emma pulled further away from him, disgusted. _

_ “Don’t say that,” she scowled. “You don’t love me. You never have. If you did, you wouldn’t have—” _

_ “We can still be together,” he interrupted, and Emma scoffed, an unamused laugh escaping her lips. _

_ “How could you expect me to love you after this?” She took another step back, watching his face contort with anger. “You’re insane. We _ never _ had a chance together. I should have cut our dead, soulmate tether when I had the chance.” _

_ It was the last thing she said before she felt Hook’s hand at her neck, tight enough to hurt but not tight enough to cut off her air flow. “You, bitch,” he muttered under his breath. “I should have taken your heart instead of hers.” His grip tightens and Emma gasped for air. “I’ll still find a way for us to be together… _ love, _ ” he sneered. “When we get back, I know you’ll choose me.” _

_ It was the last thing Emma heard before losing consciousness. _

**xxx**

_ When Regina finally teleported, she didn’t just think of Granny’s. _

_ She thought of her hands reaching into Hook’s chest and crushing his heart right then and there, without even bothering to pull it out and lay eyes on that rotted organ. She thought of Emma, knowing that her soulmate deserved better than what the pirate gave her. She thought about how messed up it was that even though they took the one precaution that kept Emma from falling into the hands of Killian and suffering by his side, that still managed to happen anyway. _

_ But it didn’t matter—not anymore—because Regina was going to destroy Hook’s life, his entire existence, in any way she possibly could. _

_ Her heightened need for revenge and her regained control over her normal magic were what led her to the right place on the first attempt, and she couldn’t help the malicious smile on her face when her eyes landed on Hook. She knew this was the right version of him because of the way he looked at her, his expression a picture of jealousy and rage, and the way he looked like he hadn’t taken a bath in six hundred years and wasn’t embarrassed to admit it. _

_ “You,” she said, taking a step closer to him. She didn’t know how she was going to kill him, but if _ he _ could kill the original Dark Hook, Regina didn’t see why she couldn’t kill the poser. She planned to make it long and drawn out. She wanted him to suffer. _

_ He smiled at her, evil and emotionless as she inched closer. “I’ve been expecting you,” he told her, and something about the way he said it gave her pause. She came to a stop, taking in her surroundings before taking the action she so desperately longed to. _

_ The first thing she noticed was the purple smoke, spreading across the floor in waves so thick, she didn’t know how she hadn’t noticed it before. The second thing she noticed was the way the smoke wafted around Emma’s body on the floor—her still breathing, still _ living _ body, wearing entirely different clothes than the first Emma she had come across. _

_ Regina had to keep her expression neutral as she took in the sight of her soulmate, still alive and mostly well as she met Hook’s eyes before glancing at the potion. “The Dark Curse?” she asked, her voice level and deep, acting the part of a potential ally. She needed information. _

_ “Aye,” the pirate answered with a cocky smirk, and Regina fought back the urge to roll her eyes at him. Instead she hummed, walking around the cauldron and tracing the edge with her finger. _

_ “Impressive,” she told him, waiting until she was standing next to him, Emma at their feet before she asked, “You used Emma’s heart, I presume?” _

_ “Yes,” he answered, even more arrogant than before as if murdering someone he loved proved he was better for her. “Only it wasn’t this Emma. _ My _ Emma,” he emphasized, his eyes making firm contact with Regina’s to further his point. “It was her alternate.” _

_ “Which?” Regina asked him, wishing she’d been able to observe the body she’d found earlier. Was it an alternate who was happily married to Regina here? Was it an Emma who had grown up in a loving family and stayed far away from the magical mess she’d been born into? _

_ Whatever alternate she expected, she was shocked when she heard Hook’s answer. “Emma Jones,” he told her, and Regina couldn’t stop the slight drop of her jaw. _

_ “Your wife,” she commented, her voice quiet enough that it wouldn’t betray her true feelings on the situation. Hook puffed out his chest defensively. _

_ “It was what had to be done.” _

_ Regina sensed there was more to this than Hook was letting on, but then again, he wasn’t the only one keeping secrets. “What can I do to help?” she offered. “I’ve cast a few curses in my day, you know,” she told him, putting on an act that she knew he would follow, her hand lightly tracing down his arm. As she expected he turned toward her with a small step. _

_ He didn’t even question her offer to assist him, and Regina knew she had him. “I want to take Emma’s memories from this place. As many as possible. I know you know how to make memory adjustments to the curse,” he said with a quirk of an eyebrow. _

_ “Of course, I do,” Regina grinned. “But you know what would be better than taking Emma’s memories?” Hook’s jaw tensed, prepared to fight Regina on the issue, but before he could, she waved her hand, causing everyone else to appear in the dining room, passed out on the floor just as Emma was. “Taking everybody’s.” _

_ Hook laughed once, moving closer to Regina. “I like the way you think,” he said, holding out his hand to her, offering an alliance. She accepted, shaking his hand with the full intention of screwing him over. _

_ Turning back to face the unconscious crowd, Regina used her magic to pull all their memories. As she did so, she took extra care with Emma’s, trying to separate anything important she could use when they all woke up in Storybrooke. She had only ever done a memory division spell once before, but she was confident in her abilities to have Emma’s memories dispersed to her as dreams in the weeks following their return home. _

_ Once she had secretly applied the memory division and dispersion spells, she held up the orb of memories for Hook to see before drowning it in the caudron, the smoke rolling out at an even faster pace now. “Ready?” Regina asked Hook, turning to look at him. His eyes were on Emma. _

_ “Ready,” he confirmed, smirking down at the blonde on the floor, a disturbing glint in his eye. And he may have been ready, but as the smoke enveloped them, Regina imagined feeling the life leave Hook’s body, and she knew. No one was more ready than she was. _


	9. Chapter 9

Emma’s eyes open, and all she can think about is how tired she is of blacking out and losing time. It takes her a moment to sit up and find clarity once again, but once she does, she’s on her feet, a week’s worth of memories all sinking in at once. 

The recovery of her memories is a relief, but even so, it makes her dizzy, and she has to give herself longer than she wants to before she can stand up. She’s at the docks, leaning against cargo, and it takes her a moment to remember this is where she’d been when she had passed out—or been knocked out. She blinks, thinking back to what was probably only an hour ago but feels like a week given the resurgence of her memories, and remembers Hook and Regina fighting, a rift forming in their dynamic.

It’s her concern for Regina that has her rising to her feet and fighting off nausea as she makes her way back into town. The night air is colder than she expected, and even though she just left what might be the windiest part of town, she feels even colder the closer in she goes. As Emma reaches main street, everything feels eerily quiet, almost isolated, and it takes Emma back to the silence of the Realm of Possibilities until a bird cries out in the distance, and Emma jumps.

“Emma!” someone yells from behind her, “There you are! We didn’t know where you went,” the blonde turns to face a frantic Snow and David rushing toward her. “We heard the door close, and we thought that it was you coming home, but when we checked, you weren’t upstairs. We’ve been calling you for an hour now.”

Being fussed over still isn’t something Emma’s used to, and she rolls her eyes at her parents with a laugh. “I’m fine. You guys don’t have to come rushing out in the middle of the night every time you’re worried about me, you know.”

She says it and she means it, but her parents maintain their grave expressions. Emma is about to protest or repeat herself when David speaks for the first time. “We didn’t only come out here because you weren’t home.”

Emma frowns, immediately on edge, “Then why—” she starts to ask, but she doesn’t need to finish her sentence because she sees Hook walking down the street toward them, his strides long and his steps heavy, and Emma immediately turns defensively in front of her parents, ready to fight him off herself even though she already knows that can’t possibly end well.

“Tell me what you know, Swan,” Hook barks at her as he comes closer, and Emma doesn’t so much as shake her head in response. It pisses him off and she can tell by the way his nostrils flare, even though he’s still several meters away. “What do you remember?” he tries again, and Emma can imagine the curious expressions on her parents’ faces right now as she heard them mumble behind her.

“Remember?”

“You got your memories back?”

But Emma doesn’t answer, and Hook growls, his face so close to hers she can smell his Dark Magic, rotting like his soul. “I’ll kill you for this,” he says.

“You already did.”

**xxx**

After Emma blacked out, Regina ran, knowing that Hook would target her instead of Emma. Now that things were falling apart, it was only a matter of time before the truth came out, and Regina needed to take care of Killian before he realized the reality behind their power imbalance. The only problem was that she didn’t know how she would be able to kill him. 

Transferring back to a linear realm seemed to cement his Dark One identity, and try as she might, she couldn’t figure out where to begin. So she kidnapped Gold for information. “You’re staying here,” she told him as she closed all the blinds to her home. “No one will think to look here, and I can’t have Hook trying to get information out of you. You’re more valuable to me.”

The man had smirked, his expression weak, and Regina wasn’t used to this version of Rumple, with no power to manipulate and no prices to offer other than cold, hard facts. “You’re not even a Dark One,” he said, and Regina shook her head.

“No one needs to know that. The only thing I need from you is how I can kill Hook.”

Rumple laughed, “I couldn’t even kill him when he was a regular human and I was the Dark One. What makes you think you can do the opposite?” But Regina never answered him, and she never got the information she needed.

There was the dagger, which for all she knew was left in the Realm of Possibilities, and other than that, the task seemed impossible. 

But after he had attacked Emma with a magic blast he obviously had no control over, Regina had new incentive. She returned to the docks after she knew Hook had left, and she had pulled Emma to safety, making sure to check her vitals before returning her memories the way she should have done from the start. 

It was a risk, because she knew that once Emma remembered, she would be out for Killian’s blood as well, and her magic was even less predictable than Regina’s. And besides, Regina wanted to keep Emma’s light magic as far away from darkness as possible. She wasn’t going to let her kill anyone.

She was going to kill Hook herself, even if it meant she had to die in the process.

As Regina approached main street, following the surge of Dark Magic polluting the air around them, she grew nervous, wondering if anything she did would be enough. Logic was rarely applicable to anything magical, and Regina couldn’t shake the feeling that because sacrifice was what began this entire ordeal, it could be what put an end to it as well.

Her plan was only half formed as she approaches, but when she sees Hook looking ready to fight Emma, she puts all her worries aside in favor of protecting the woman she promised herself she would save. 

“Back off, Hook,” she shouts, her voice echoing down the street. 

Emma jumps in surprise and turns to face her. “Regina,” she says, and her name on Emma’s lips is music to her ears. She longs for them to make it back to any semblance of normal, but she can’t dwell on that. Not when her own life is at stake. 

“Emma, I need you to go, okay? I’ll handle him,” she says, eyeing the Dark One pirate, but Emma is stubborn, and she profusely shakes her head, going to far as to move Regina aside. 

“I’m not going to let you give in to the darkness like this, Regina. I’m not going to let anything happen to you. We’re—” Emma starts, but cuts herself off, and Regina watches as her face falls. She doesn’t understand why, but she finishes Emma’s sentence for her.

“We’re soulmates, Emma. We’re fighting for this—for each other. I need you to trust me.”

Emma shakes her head. “Regina,” she says again, and the way her voice sounds breaks Regina’s heart. “We—” she starts again, but she can’t get the words out. It doesn’t help that Hook loudly clears his throat.

“I believe we were in the middle of something,” he says, and Emma actually sticks her tongue out at him, mocking. His jaw tightens, but he backs up. It seems like he’s forfeiting—maybe even postponing their fight—at least until he charges back, becoming nothing more than a cloud of red smoke at the last minute. 

As it dissipates, the group catches their breath in the middle of the road, not knowing what to expect from him next, but nothing happens. Snow and David move away from Regina, almost afraid of her as they were Hook. Regina’s about to tell them they don’t need to be scared of her, but she thinks better of it. If they think she’s a Dark One and see that she’s on her side, they should ultimately feel safer. She offers them as friendly a smile as she can manage before turning back to Emma, whose guilt ridden eyes remain trained on the ground.

“What’s wrong?” Regina softly asks her, wanting to comfort her as best she can before Hook’s inevitable return. After all, she doesn’t know how much time with the blonde she has left.

Emma hesitates, fighting with herself on whether or not she should speak before she finally meets Regina’s gaze. “It’s about our soulmate tether…” she starts, lost for the words to continue, but she doesn’t have time to find them before Hook reappears behind her, dragging Emma away from the rest of the group. She tries to fight him, but fails.

“I’ve killed her once,” Hook laughs, “using her heart to cast the Dark Curse.” He holds a familiar looking blade up to her throat, and Regina’s breath catches. “What do you think would happen if I used Dark Swan’s dagger to slit her throat?”

Snow cries out from behind Regina, and she ushers them further back. She whispers to them that she’d going to handle this before stepping closer to Hook. “You don’t want to do that,” she says.

He raises his eyebrows. “Oh, but don’t I,” he laughs. “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t do this, and it better not be because _ she’s your soulmate. _”

The words hit Regina harshly, but not as harshly as the way Emma’s soft admission does, so quiet that Regina almost couldn’t make it out. “She isn’t.”

For a moment, Regina feels her world slipping away from her, spiraling in the lost look in Emma’s eyes, but then Hook barks out a laugh and it all starts to make sense. Why Regina hadn’t seen the yellow string the second time she went into the cerebral space—it was because the string had been cut. Why she felt a sudden tear in her heart—that was the moment the tether had been broken. Why she had felt a sudden clarity and had been more able to control her dark magic—Emma had made a sacrifice back. Regina wouldn’t have to pay the price of being Emma’s soulmate if the tether didn’t exist.

Her thoughts are broken by a sudden whimper from Emma as Hook pushes the blade against her neck. It doesn’t cut her deep, but it’s starting to, and Hook repeats himself. “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t do this.”

Clearing her throat, Regina answers, “Because that doesn’t belong to you.”

“I don’t care,” Hook scoffs. “That isn’t good enough.” He pushes the blade in more, and Emma’s struggle against him fuels the rage in Regina’s chest. She remembers the way Emma Jones had looked, lifeless on the ground, and she wouldn’t let something like that ever happen again, especially not to _ Her _ Emma. 

She’s prepared to lunge at Hook and sink her hand into his chest when she suddenly feels something cool against her palm, indicating the material is a metal of sorts, but the warm glow surrounding it is even more telling than anything.

The shears of fate just appeared in her hand, and she knows exactly what she needs to do with them.

“If you use another Dark One’s dagger to kill someone else, you’ll die too,” she lies to Hook, turning her hand so he won’t notice the shears. “Trust me, Killian. Please.” His face is still a mask of anger, but he lets up with the dagger just enough to let Regina know that he’s listening. “If you kill Emma, and kill yourself in the process, you’ll never get what you want.”

“Oh yeah?” he asks, his voice lower, “and how do you know what I want?”

Regina doesn’t even have to answer him, because she can see him thinking through everything now, slowly pulling back on his impulsive behavior. She looks at him with all the sympathy she can possibly muster for someone she’s about to murder in cold blood, but if acting like she cares abut his life and his goals for one moment is enough to get him to lower the weapon and allow Emma to move aside, she’ll make it happen. And sure enough, he lowers the dagger and pushes Emma over, sneering at her with disdain as he did so.

“You know,” he says to her. “If you’d have chosen me, you would have been a lot better off.”

The sight of Emma Jones’s dead body flashes into Regina’s mind once more and she can’t fight her hatred for Killian any longer—her desire to take revenge on him. She throws herself at him and plunges the shears into his heart. She feels the magic radiating from them against her skin as they poison Hook from the inside out, ripping away both his darkness and his light. She holds her position, twisting the shears inside of him until he falls back, dead, and the shears disappear from her hand, their latest purpose fulfilled.

The relief she feels at Hook’s death is so overwhelming that she doesn’t realize anything is wrong until she hears Emma yell her name, and feels arms around her, catching her before laying her down gently on the concrete. “Emma?” she asks, searching for those green eyes that always grounded her. She blinks a few times, trying to make her vision less blurry, but nothing happens.

She feels Emma’s hands on her face, in her hair, against her side, and she wishes these touches were coming in a different context than this one. She chuckles, “I should have waited until he dropped the dagger.”

She can hear the tears in Emma’s voice when she says, “But you’re going to be okay, right? Dark Ones can only be killed with their own dagger. Not someone else’s,” and that’s when Regina realizes that Emma still doesn’t know.

“I’m not a Dark One, Emma.”

Her vision clears enough to see green eyes widen, looking lost and even more broken as she frantically asks a string of one word questions: “What? Why? How? When?” and Regina can only shake her head and lift one of her hands to find one of Emma’s resting softly against her cheek. Regina moves Emma’s fingers over her lips so she can kiss them one by one before moving their linked hands to rest on her chest.

“Kiss me,” she tells Emma, and her voice sounds weaker than she thought it would, but Emma does as she requests, carefully hovering over Regina, keeping their hands intertwined as she cups Regina’s face with the other. Her lips are soft as they press against Regina’s—hesitant like any first kiss would be though they both know this isn’t their first.

Even so, it’s easy for Regina to melt against Emma’s lips, whimpering for a reason that is the very antithesis of pain, and let the comfort of the action soothe her. She doesn’t have hope for True Love’s Kiss— not when they’ve done it before and not when their soulmate tether has been broken—but she does have hope for Emma, and she knows that even without the soulmate tether, they would have always been bound by fate.

When Emma pulls away, leaving one last kiss against the corner of her mouth, Regina is surprised to see the blonde as clearly as she had earlier. Her vision appears back to normal, and the pain in her gut where the dagger was has subsided. Emma seems just as confused, and she looks down at Regina, laughing in relief when her fingers graze over the spot where the dagger had penetrated. Dark Swan’s dagger, along with the wound, had disappeared.

True Love’s Kiss had worked.

Emma helps Regina sit up, and immediately pulls her into her arms, so close that Regina has no choice but to straddle her. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” Emma says, her voice muffled by Regina’s shoulder. “I never wanted to lose you,” she says, pulling back enough to meet Regina’s eyes. “I never wanted to cut the soulmate tether. But I knew it would help you, and if keeping you in my life meant losing you as a soulmate, it was better than losing you forever.”

“Emma,” Regina says, running a hand through the woman’s blonde hair. She wants to say _ you never would have lost me _ , but she knows that isn’t true. She wants to say _ I won’t let that happen _ , but she knows it’s a promise she can’t keep. She wants to say _ we can fix the tether, _ but she isn’t so sure that kind of thing can be fixed. All the sentiments of words she can’t say cloud her mind, and she knows she needs to say _ something _, but it’s as though no words she comes up with will be good enough. She thinks maybe she should kiss Emma again, let the action speak louder than any words ever could, but instead she says, “I love you.”

The words surprise herself as much as they surprise Emma, and she shakes her head with an awkward laugh. “I mean—” she starts again, tripping over her words for a moment before Emma captured her lips with her own once again, effectively silencing her and telling her that she understands without having to say it outloud. 

When they part again, Emma’s green eyes ground Regina, as they always have, and she knows that everything is going to be okay.

They help each other up and make their way over to where the Charmings had wandered off to, pretending to admire the sunrise, despite the buildings that blocked their view. “I think Granny’s is just opening for breakfast,” Snow suggests. “If the two of you want to go.”

Emma shrugs, “Sure, I’ll text Henry and tell him to meet us.”

Regina nods, actually  _ craving _ a normal Granny’s experience. They make the journey in silence, not talking much until they were joined by Henry. David is the first to talk, discussing which of his theories had been correct and which ones hadn’t—”They were really good theories though,” he defends, and Emma frowns.

“Um, _ one _ , no they weren’t. And _ two _ when did you get your memories back? And how did you get all the information? I never got a chance to tell you guys while we were in the Realm of Possibilities.”

“Oh, it was when you two kissed,” Mary Margaret says, her cheeks so red they’re nearly glowing. “And we got all our information from Dark Swan. She had a feeling you weren’t going to catch us up, so she and her girlfriend…the Evil Queen,” Snow continues blushing harder, “filled us in on everything.”

Regina nearly chokes on her coffee. “Girlfriends?”

“Oh, yeah,” Emma says. “We were dating like, everywhere. Our alternates, I mean,” Emma said, also blushing. “But anyway, how did you stop being the Dark One? And when? because it really wasn’t that long ago when I last summoned you…”

Regina laughs, sipping her coffee instead of answering. She had modified her magic so that it would appear as though she were a Dark One. It was fairly simple stuff, but the one that alerted her when someone tried to _ summon _ her…well, she almost wanted to keep that to herself. “I cut the darkness away with the shears,” she answers, and that seems to be enough for Emma who nods in thought.

“And what happened to the darkness? If you and Hook both no longer carry it?”

“I guess it’s just gone?” Regina surmises. “Maybe it can only be found in the Realm of Possibilities now.”

“That sounds right,” David says as he digs into his blueberry waffle. Emma rolls her eyes at him and Regina grins over at her. “What?” David asks with a mouthful of waffle while they laugh at him and his conspiracies together. Even Snow joins in. 

Eventually, Belle and Zelena arrive at Granny’s arms linked together. They’re followed closely by Gold and Robin. The four of them take a neighboring table and catch up on all the happenings of the night and the return of everyone’s memories.

“Wait,” Gold suddenly says, his expression serious. “Should we go save Killian from hell?” Everyone stares at him blankly until he started laughing. Everyone was quick to join in because no one wants him there.

“To Hook’s eternal suffering—hopefully,” Emma said, raising her coffee mug and clinking it with everyone else’s at the two tables. Even some other customers joined in on the toast. Regina had never loved Emma more.

The two of them manage to sneak out of the diner together, after becoming a little overwhelmed by the cheering crowd that never seemed to stop forming inside Granny’s. Everyone  _ said _ it was because the darkness was gone, but still, everyone knew that it also had a lot to do with a certain pirate no longer being around. 

As they walk down the street, Emma slips her hand into Regina’s, and the brunette blushes. She never realized life could be like this—so simple, yet still so happy.

“You know,” Emma starts, glancing over at Regina, “I ran into a lot of our alternates in that realm, and there were quite a few who were, you know, together,” she explains, starting to talk in a nervous ramble. “Like, some were even married, raising Henry together—” she stops herself. “Not that we need to do that right this second or anything, it’s just…I don’t know, it seems like a nice idea.” 

Regina hums, smiling over at Emma, unable to take her eyes off her. “It does sound like a nice idea,” she says, smiling wider when Emma does. “Do you want that? One day?”

“I do,” Emma admits. She stops suddenly, turning to face Regina. “I was thinking about our soulmate tether. It hurt when I had to break it, but also, I’m not sure we really need it, you know? I want to be with you regardless. That’s why I wanted to take on the darkness for you. And I would have.”

“I know,” Regina says, and she leans in to kiss Emma again, and it feels like it was always meant to be like this, and she tells Emma as much. “You’re my soulmate, Emma Swan.”

“No strings attached?” Emma laughs, bright and colorful. She’s the sun, and Regina can’t help but kiss her again. This is the way they were meant to be.


End file.
